Stay Away From MY Sister
by Dracoisalooker76
Summary: Sequel to Her Fault The wildcats thought it was hard to win the championship, but something harder's coming: helping Troy keep his sister away from boys.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I own Nothing.**

For a Monday morning, the Bolton residence was unusually full of people and noises. The Wildcat's season had ended with a championship win over the West High Knights. The Scholastic Decathlon team had also won their final meet against the Knights. The musical was casted and the basketball team was having a team dinner that night. Well... they were supposed to have a team dinner that night.

"Mack! Change it back to the-" sneeze "-news, I'm not watching some silly cartoon!" Coach Bolton would have yelled had his voice not been hoarse.

"Oh, but Daddy, the news is boring!" Mack sighed, "I wish I wasn't sick. We were having a pizza party today."

Troy snorted, "you wish were weren't sick! I had a biology final that I'll have to retake after school, which will ruin my whole schedule with Darbus, then she'll hate me even more than she already does because today we were running through the whole show, and on top of that I had the team dinner tonight, which Gabriella was going to go to."

"She could always come over here instead and spoon feed you chicken noodle soup," Mack said through a stuffed up nose. She smiled at her older brother.

"I'M GOING CRAZY!"

"You've already done that."

"MOM!" Troy yelled. Coach Bolton covered his ears, he had a headache and the last thing he needed was the two of them arguing.

"Troy, what is it sweetie." Mrs. Bolton walked into the room. Mack and Troy were sharing the couch, Troy at one end, Mack at the other, and Coach Bolton was in his armchair, hands over his ears trying to block out all sound.

Troy looked up and very seriously asked, "could you check my temperature?"

Mrs. Bolton rolled her eyes and sighed. "Troy, it will be the same as when I checked last time. I'm not letting you leave this house with 103.2 fever."

"Can't I just go to biology and maybe rehearsal."

"No." She walked over to Troy and stuck the thermometer in his mouth. "Make sure it stays under your tongue." She waited a minute before taking it out. "102.9."

"Okay. It went down...I could be back to regular temperature by biology."

"Troy I think you might be getting the flu."

Troy's face dropped, "but..but...I can't...finals...rehearsals..." His arms wrapped across his stomach. "Now it starts to hurt."

"Get some rest both of you!"

Mack put on a look. "What about Dad?"

The three looked to Mr. Bolton, who was snoring away in his armchair and laughed.

hsmhsmhsmhsm

"Gabriella!"

Gabriella turned to see Chad running behind her. He was out of breath and tired from the weekend's festivities. He stopped right in front of her and put his hands on his knees. She shook her head and opened her locker. "What do you want, Chad?"

He sprung up from his position and began leaning up against the lockers. "Do you know where Troy is?"

"No."

The boy groaned. "We're supposed to meet him in the gym during homeroom, but I can't find him anywhere!"

Gabriella shook her head and laughed quietly to herself. "You do have a phone right?"

He nodded listening eagerly to her.

"Why don't you call him."

He smiled at her, pulling out his cellphone and twirling it around. He turned the smile still on his face.

Chad kept the smile all the way to the gym. When he walked in he saw ten very tired, very annoyed basketball players, all wondering what they were waiting for.

"Is Troy coming?" Zeke asked. Chad pulled out his cellphone. "I'm going to call him."

Chad dialed the number and the team all moved closer so they could hear the one sided conversation.

"Dude! Where are you. Why! Oh...No way. Ooh. Dude, why do you want to come. Biology! You don't even take biology! Your what! Oh come on Troy...that is never going to work. You just stay in bed and get better. Yes I mean it. We'll have it tomorrow. Troy trust me, you sound horrible. Well your mom's a smart lady. Get some sleep. Okay, bye."

Chad shut the cellphone and put it on vibrate in his pocket. Troy said he might call because he was bored out of his mind. He then turned around and walked out on his way to Darbus' class, leaving the rest of the team to wonder what happened.

hsmhsmhsmhsm

Mack opened her eyes and immediately shut them again because there was a lot of bright light. "Am I dead? Did I die," she asked aloud to no one particular.

"No and it's a shame too."

Mack opened her eyes and struggled to make out the blurry face that was talking to her belonged to. She rubbed her 'Bolton Blue' eyes and looked up at Troy. He was grinning from ear to ear. "Your room was going to become my closet."

"How long did I sleep for?"

Troy jerked his head back and forth, trying to decide before finally saying, "a day and a half. It's Tuesday."

"Oh."

"I'm going to meet the guys, you wanna come?"

Mack's eyes were distant and her face held a blank look. Troy figured it was from all the sleep and walked out of the room. Mack's eyes followed him all the way to the door and didn't stop until she heard the faint click. Suddenly, she bolted up the stairs to Troy's room. She jumped on his bed and grabbed his cellphone. She was amazed he left it home, he never left without it. She shrugged before looking through his contacts trying to find one. Her eyes landed on the name and she clicked send.

It rang twice before. "hi Troy!"

"No, Gabriella. It's Mack," she said into the receiver. "What are you doing right now."

"Homework, at my house with Taylor and Sharpay-"

"I need to talk to you! It's extremely import-" She gasped when she heard footsteps coming up the stairs followed by Troy's voice, "Mack, have you seen my cellphone!"

Her eyes widened. "I'll be over in a few," she said quickly into the phone before clamping it shut. Troy's door opened and Mack jumped into the nearby closet. She watched Troy go over to his bed and look for his phone. "Where is it? I could have sworn I left it on the bed," he said under his breath. Then, Mack felt something in her clutched fist. She opened her hand very slowly and made a small noise. The cellphone was in her palm. She opened the closet door just enough to get her hand through and tossed it out, hoping Troy hadn't seen her hand.

Troy turned around and picked up the cellphone. "What?" He turned and went out the door into the hall. There was a few seconds of a pause before Mack could hear Troy's feet going down the stairs and the door shutting. She sighed with relief before grabbing her sweatshirt and heading out toward Gabriella's house.

**I know, kinda slow start. It gets better! Next Chapter: What does Mack have to ask Gabriella about and the team dinner.**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Sorry about the delay, all four of my teachers piled on the homework and gave us three projects this week along with 2 tests. Well I hope you like Chapter 2, cause I know you've all been waiting for it. I'll be posting a lot more this weekend!**

Mack turned down Gabriella's walkway taking a deep breath. She was having second thoughts about telling them. She needed to tell someone or she would burst and she would rather talk to Gabriella, Taylor and Sharpay, than Troy, Chad, Zeke, Jason, and Ryan. This just wasn't the subject that you want to talk to your brother about, especially if your brother's name is Troy Bolton.

She walked over to the door and rang the bell, humming her brother's new favorite song: Breaking Free. Rustling could be heard behind the door. Then it flung open and three sets of arms pulled her in and up the stairs. Mack had never been inside Gabriella's house, it was quite nice. The three girls threw Mack into Gabriella's room and onto her bed, before shutting the door. There was an awkward silence that followed only a moment until Sharpay broke it.

"So, what's so important that you couldn't wait to tell us about?" Her voice had changed since the last time Mack had talked to her. It had become less like ice and more friendly, she was even smiling about something that wasn't solely about her.

Mack could feel Taylor studying her, almost like she could read right through her. But then again, she probably could. They had known each other for a long time. Taylor, even though she was two grades ahead, was the first friend she had ever made. All the other kindergarten kids didn't talk to Mack because she complained that she wanted to get out of school and fool around with Troy and her dad at the 'big school' and watch her dad's team practice. By the time recess had come, she had complained to so many people, no one wanted to hang out with her because they thought she would whine the entire time. Taylor had walked over to see if she wanted to play with her and Mack couldn't have been more delighted.

Sure, Mack made friends, but not for the right reasons. As she got older, kids became her friend so they could meet Troy. Taylor had taught Mack to look right through these people. Once Taylor and her brother started high school, she split her time between them. Taylor on the days Troy had basketball practice and Troy on the days Taylor had Scholastic Decathlon practice.

"I know," Taylor said. "It's a guy, isn't it!" Mack looked at each of them. Sharpay, Gabriella and Taylor all had matching smiles on their faces. Mack looked down at the floor, any sign of excitement in her face was now gone. She brought her face up to look at them and said, "the wrong guy."

Sharpay giggled. "Wrong guy, how could it be the wrong guy? There is no such thing."

Mack sighed. "There is if you're a Bolton. I don't get how this could have happened."

"Who is it?" Gabriella said sitting next to Mack, putting a comforting arm around her shoulders.

"Calum. Calum Boucher."

hsmhsmhsmhsm

"So dude, you're coming to the dinner tonight, right?" Chad asked Troy as they walked with Zeke and Ryan toward Jason's house.

"Yep. How was practice?" Troy was eager to hear what his dad had them doing. Coach Bolton was normally a hard coach. He expected excellence or immediate correction and with a tournament coming he would be extra hard.

"He was pretty easy on us," Zeke said. "Except he made Chad here run cause he caught the rebound with his face." Chad was about to say something but Zeke cut in, "there was no way you were ready to catch that ball. You had a dazed look on your face."

"Thinking about Taylor?" Ryan asked, elbowing the shorter boy. Troy had to stop walking to stay balanced because he was laughing so hard.

"Hey! I bet he would have made you run too!" Chad shouted at Troy before turning to Ryan and Zeke. "And for your information, I was trying to stop the ball with my super powers." All four of they burst into harder laughing than any of them had in their lives.

"Well, well, well. What are the wildcats laughing about now," came a sneering voice from behind them. All four immediately stopped laughing and put on a look of disgust as they turned to face the voice. The voice was a good looking guy with brown hair and cold ice colored eyes. The boy had a blue West High basketball jacket with yellow lettering. He gave a snort. "Oh Bolton, you kill me. You can't make friends with the jocks, so you go to Drama King? This is rich."

"What are you doing here?" Chad sneered right back at boy. "You're team's no so hot anymore. Maybe it's because you moved up from JV. They won all the championship games before you came."

"You watch your mouth Danforth if you ever want to use it again." The boy turned his gaze back on Troy. "You know that one of us will get the big scholarship from Stanford and one of us wont, so don't go crying to your daddy when I get it instead of you."

"Put your money where your mouth is Boucher."

"You wanna fight with me Bolton?" The boy walked over to Troy so they were inches apart. He laughed as he said, "oh come on. Everyone knows Troy Bolton doesn't fight."

"And everybody knows Cam Boucher plays dirty," Zeke said coldly from behind Troy.

"You keep quiet, Emeril. I don't need you jabbering on. Why don't you go bake?" He turned back to Troy. "Where's your snooty little sister, haven't seen her lately. Does she still cherish you? Are you still her idol? Does it make you happy that there's someone out in the stands that will cheer for you?"

Chad saw Troy's fist clench and reached out to hold it back. If Troy got in a fight, by rules, he'd get suspended from the tournament. If he actually hurt someone, he would get taken off the team, no matter what the other person did to him first. Troy and Cam were staring at each other, each having slits for eyes. After staring at each other for the longest minute in history, Cam threw the first punch.

hsmhsmhsmhsm

"Troy, what happened." Coach Bolton walked over to his son, who was helped into the banquet hall by Chad and Zeke, Jason was holding his stuff. Chad and Zeke led him to a chair where he could sit down. He moaned as he sat and Coach Bolton didn't take that as a good sign.

Jack Bolton looked at his son. He was bleeding from his nose, had two black eyes and looked about ready to pass out. His hands were covered in blood and his white shirt was dotted with red marks. Not all of that blood could be his. The coach looked at Chad, "what happened."

"Cam Boucher. Thats what happened," Chad said with cold voice.

"Yeah, Boucher threw the first punch and everything," Jason added as he and Zeke moved away so Mrs. Bolton could clean up Troy.

"Guys we have parents coming in 10 minutes. We can't let them see Troy like this!" Coach Bolton yelled.

"I'll take Troy home and get him cleaned up better, start with out us," said Mrs. Bolton as she led Troy out of the banquet hall.

"Okay boys, I want to know what happened. Exactly like it happened. Got it?"

All three wildcats nodded their heads, "yes sir."

**Hey! How do you guys like Cam Boucher? Nice guy huh! Troy didn't do that bad when he fought Cam. My friend called him a 'woozy' when she watched the scene with him upset about Gabriella not talking to him. Well, next chapter is on it's way!**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Some of you thought that Mack liked Cam, she actually likes his brother Calum, sorry if it wasn't clear enough.**

Mack laid on the ground in her front yard staring at the stars. Her whole day had been a disaster. First, Sharpay was determined on giving her a makeover, then she forgot about the team dinner and had to walk in late. Although she wasn't last (that was Troy and her mom), she felt like an idiot walking in as her dad was passing out awards. After the dinner, she had to sit and listen to her dad yell at her brother about picking fights with Cam Boucher-something Troy didn't normally do- and remind him that he could get kicked off the team. By rules, he actually would have had to turn in his tournament jersey already, had he not been Troy Bolton.

But of course, Troy Bolton got to stay on the team, because of reasons that should be overlooked. He's the coach's son, he's the best player, they'd lose without him.

That last one was the most important to the school. Winning, it always was. Thats what high school was all about. Winning the game, or the scholarship, or the decathlon.

She sighed. If only life was fair. Had life been fair, Troy would have been off the team in middle school and she wouldn't have to live life in the shelter of her brother's shadow.

Mack idolized her brother, but lately she found herself changing her mind. He fought with Boucher, what next? They were both starting to grow up...and apart. She was also finding herself thinking things like, 'what if Dad hadn't been a basketball star', how would her life had been? She would have been able to talk to people without them saying: "your brother's the basketball guy, you must be so proud."

Had Mack been someone else's sister, she wouldn't have as much trouble figuring out what to do about her new 'situation.'

She hated to admit it, but she liked Cam Boucher's little brother Calum. She had shrugged it off for the past few months. Ignoring the voices in her head that were saying, 'he's hot.' But she couldn't ignore them any longer, no matter how much she wanted to. All her life, she had told herself to stay away from Calum, he was trouble just like his brother, but in the end, there was no stopping her emotions. They had been getting to her lately.

"Aren't the stars amazing?"

Mack sat up and looked at the boy on the sidewalk. He walked up to her and sat down on the grass with her. With just the porch light and the stars for lighting, Mack could see his eyes and got lost in the deep pools of brown. So this is what Troy felt like when he was with Gabriella?

"What are you doing here Calum," she asked, her voice small. She had never heard her voice at that volume before and hoped he didn't catch on. "You know that if my brother comes out here you're toast."

"I just wanted to see how he was doing. I'm sorry for what Cam did and if Troy gets kicked off the team it's-"

"How could Troy Bolton get kicked off the team?" Mack said, a little more harsh than she expected it to come out. She saw the boy wince and his eyes become sincere.

"I just wanted to make sure you were okay. I know that my brother likes to torture you because you're Troy's sister."

"I didn't notice."

Calum sighed. "I was worried about you today. Why weren't you at school?"

"I was sick."

"Oh." He leaned over a little and their shoulders touched. Mack shivered from the contact. "Here." He pulled off his sweatshirt and gave it to her. Mack smiled as she put it on.

"Thanks," she whispered.

After a awkward silence he said, "I better get home before they find out I left." He leaned over and kissed her on the cheek. "I hope you feel better Mack."

Calum got up off the grass and walked down to the sidewalk before turning left. Mack smiled. 'This might not be as bad as I thought it would be,' she thought as she got up from her position and walked into the house. Troy and her father had stopped fighting and were discussing the tournament that was a week away. Troy looked up and looked a little confused. "What are you wearing?"

Mack looked down and noticed she was wearing Calum's basketball sweatshirt. It had Boucher embroidered on the sleeve not facing her brother and dad with the number 4. Not being able to come up with an answer, she walked away, knowing that her brother would have known she was lying. Troy and Coach Bolton exchanged looks before Troy ran up the stairs after his sister.

hsmhsmhsmhsm

Troy stepped out of his dad's car and looked for Chad and they guys. He found them in a circle talking and Chad dribbling his beloved basketball. "Hey Troy, what's with the sour face?" Jason asked, looking up from the conversation.

"You okay?" Chad asked, concern apparent in his face.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Well sorta..." Troy motioned for the group to huddle around him. "I think we may have a problem."

"You don't want to drop out of the musical now do you?" Chad stopped dribbling and turned around. "We finally accept the fact that you sing, and then you go and say you don't want to!"

"Chad, that's not it."

"Well, you'll have to explain it in more detail to Darbus-"

"CHAD!"

Chad looked up from his rant and noticed that Troy wasn't going to drop out of the musical. He let out a nervous chuckle at the look on Troy's face and said, "go ahead."

"Something is going on between Mack and Boucher's brother."

"Calum?" Chad said dead serious.

"What would Calum want with Mack?" Zeke asked.

Troy just shrugged and sat next to Ryan, who was deep in thought. "How do you know?" Jason asked as he sat to Troy's left.

"Last night she had his sweatshirt on and then told me to leave her alone. She never does that."

"Maybe it was because you got in that fight. You know she hates fighting." Zeke said.

"But she knows that Boucher started it!"

Ryan blinked and had one of those 'I know what's going on' looks. "Maybe, Calum is helping Cam-"

"Boucher," Chad interrupted. "Call him Boucher."

"Well, if Boucher gets Mack on his side, Troy's lost his sister's support."

Troy laughed. "Mack would never join Boucher's side. Not in a million years."

"Unless," Zeke said. "Calum convinced her. You know what happens when someone really likes someone."

"Yeah, lets take Jason for example," Chad said. Jason sent him a glare that would have killed Chad if looks could kill. "When ever Kelsi's around he turns all, 'oh let me carry your books,' or something."

"Or, when Taylor's around," Jason said. "Chad can't concentrate and catches the rebound WITH HIS FACE!"

"You're not going to let me forget about that are you?"

"Anyways," Zeke interrupted before the argument could get any louder. "What they mean is, what would you do to keep Gabriella as you're girlfriend?"

"Anything, but that's different. A Boucher will always be a Boucher, there is no way around it. I'm not going to stand around and watch my sister get hurt, either physically or emotionally, by either of them!" Troy was about to go on when the bell rang and the five got up to walk to Darbus's class, late as could be.

**Well, hoped you liked it. As you can tell, Troy's not too happy about the whole Mack/Calum situation. Review!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hey sorry for the long wait, last week before vacation teachers pile everything possible on you! Sorry for the wait!**

"You guys go ahead," Troy said as they approached Ms. Darbus' door.

"We're not leaving you here!" Chad yelled. He was shushed by the other four boys.

"No, you guys have a game to play in. This tournament has strict rules and if you get detention with _me_ Mr. Matsui will have to choice but to boot you off too," Troy reasoned.

"But, you might be able to play. We don't know yet!"

"Chad, you guys just go. I'll go to my dad or something. If you guys go now without me, you wont get kicked off because she wont have to tell Mr. Matsui."

The four boys looked at each other, silently agreeing with Troy. Darbus was crazy with her detentions. Chad nodded and turned, leading the way for the other three to follow. Once they had made their way into Darbus' class, Troy turned around running the other way down the hall. Troy wasn't going to his dad's office where he had said he'd go, he was going someplace different.

Troy slowed down his pace and walked casually down the halls of the school. He had never seen the halls so empty. We saw his destination, the door, and smiled. No teacher was around to question him and no students to stop him, all he had to do was sneak out of the school and he could execute his plan. He had made it the night before and it was fool proof.

"Troy, what are you doing out of homeroom." Troy pulled his hand away from the door and turned to look at his dad. He smiled trying to come up with an excuse that would fool the coach, but one look into Coach Bolton's eyes told him that he knew he was trying to leave. The coach grabbed Troy's arm and marched him down to his office.

hsmhsmhsmhsm

Mack locked the door behind her. Usually her mother would give her a ride, but she had left right after the dinner to catch a flight to Annapolis to do some kind of business thing. She was stuck to do everything by herself.

Sure, Troy had woke her up this morning, but he had to leave shortly after. Mack had been left to get ready like she'd been doing for the last eight years. Even in kindergarten, Mack had gotten dressed, made breakfast, and left at the right time, by herself. Sometimes Troy was there, but he normally left early to meet Chad and walk to school with him.

Mack never had someone like that.

Sometimes she felt like Matilda, having to do everything by herself, but she had gotten used to being independent when she had to. She always wondered what it would be like to have parents that were actually around, but she couldn't dwell on dreams.

"Mack?"

She turned and saw Calum walking toward her. She released the doorknob and walked toward him. The two stopped walking when they were about a foot apart. Mack could feel Calum's eyes scanning her face. "You look tired."

"I couldn't sleep last night, a bad dream." She hoped her wouldn't ask any further. That night had been the worst night of her life. The vivid memory replayed in her mind.

_The door slammed shut and Mack turned to face Troy, anger apparent in his facial features. He walked over to Mack and grabbed her arm tightly twirling her body around so he could see her sleeve. She winced as his hand tightened around her arm. "Boucher? I thought I told you to stay away from that family."_

"_Troy-"_

"_They're bad people Mack. Look at my face! Is that not enough proof? Look at my ribs!"_

"_You did that to yourself." She immediately regretted saying that. Troy pinned the girl against the wall. _

"_You listen to me, I want you to promise me that you will never talk to them again!" Mack's arms felt like they would fall off. "Promise me!"_

"_Troy you're hurting me." _

_Troy's face eased, but Mack could see the anger didn't melt completely off his face. He lessened his grip on her and she slid into the corner of her room, not wanting to make Troy that mad again. He turned toward the door and walked out, leaving the door open as he walked down the stairs. Mack climbed into her pajamas and curled up in her bed. "Where's mom when you need her?" Mack asked quietly to herself. Until she fell asleep she asked herself questions. Why had Troy changed, when had it happened, and why could she do nothing. That night as she slept, she had a haunting dream of her family falling apart. She woke up three times in a cold sweat. Troy woke her up late the next morning, right before he left with their father. She knew that her family was falling apart like it was in her dream, she just hoped that it didn't have to end like her dream did..._

"Do you need someone to walk with?" Calum asked. She looked up in tears before shutting her eyes and crossing her arms. Calum was shocked. The last time he had seen Mack cry was in first grade when Troy fell off the playground and was knocked unconscious. He figured that her tears were family related and she probably didn't want to talk about it, so instead he pulled her into a hug and let her cry on his shoulder.

hsmhsmhsmhsm

Coach Bolton pushed Troy into the chair in his office. Troy looked down at his feet. "What's gotten into you? First you start getting into fights, then you try to skip school. This isn't like you."

Troy looked up. Jack winced at the sight of his black eye, fat lip and large gash that ran down the side of his face. Jack knew that his arms were covered with bruises, even if he couldn't see them through his jacket. "Now, the tournament directors called last night. They said that you can have another chance since it was in self defense and you don't normally fight. But if you step out of line, even getting detention, you're out. This tournament is very prestigious and I wouldn't have entered if I didn't think we could go far, but last night I was about ready to tell them to cut you off the list anyway. I heard you yelling at Mack. You need to get you're act together. You're grades are dropping, you seem distant at home, you aren't getting enough sleep." Jack had his eyes focused on his son, who was looking at the ground. He knelt down to Troy's level, "You need to take a break. Please, if not for your family, for your team. You're trying to be the hero in everything you do." Jack put a hand on Troy's knee, "please."

The telephone rang behind him with the 'outside call' ring. The coach walked over and picked it up, "Jack Bolton...Oh hi Judy...No she's not sick...What...Okay bye." Jack turned to Troy. "That was the school, you're sister's not there."

**Hope you liked it! I have vacation so I'll get more chapters up. I have all the ideas in my head, all I need to do is get them on paper. Review!**


	5. Chapter 5

**.X.Phoenix.X. - Thanks for the awesome review! To answer your question, my school system has 2 high schools and 3 middle schools, kids from one middle school usually go to one high school and kids from the other middle school usually go to the other. The kids from the 3rd middle school have a choice. I just forgot that all school systems don't work like that. Mack and Calum go to the middle school that has a choice, Troy and Cam were well... they didn't like each other in middle school either, that was part of the reason that Cam doesn't go to East High-because Troy really didn't have a choice because of his dad and he didn't want to go where Troy went. Hope that cleared it up for you!**

Coach Bolton pulled his car into the driveway. He looked in the passenger's seat at Troy, who looked about ready to murder someone. "Troy-"

"Let's go."

The two opened their doors and stepped outside. Immediately they heard laughter and a dribbling basketball. Jack started to jog toward the backyard, Troy ran at full speed. Jack watched Troy round the corner and then he hear yelling. "You get away from her!"

The Coach rounded the corner in time to see Troy grab Mack away from Calum and stand between them. Calum had a look of fear on his face, but Mack looked appalled. Troy told the boy to get lost and he ran fast as a bullet past Coach Bolton.

"Why did you do that!" Mack yelled at Troy angrily.

"Mack, you skipped school to stay home with that...rat! I told you their family is a bunch of no good, lying-"

"Calum isn't!" Mack yelled. "I accepted Gabriella as your girlfriend, why can't I be friends with Calum? Is there a law I don't know about?"

Jack took this as his cue to come in. "Mack, tell me first what you're doing out of school."

Mack turned to her father and answered, "I was just about ready to leave, when Calum walked up to the house-"

"He knows where we live!"

"Troy be quiet! Anyway, he asked me why I looked tired and it reminded me of last night and I started to..."

"I get it," Jack said, knowing his daughter hated to admit she was crying.

"Then he held me and helped me feel better."

Troy's face went bright red. "He held you!"

"Troy, shut up. If you hadn't done what you did last night, this wouldn't have happened."

"No, he probably would have walked you right into a trap," Troy said with his calmest voice of the conversation. Mack walked over to Troy and kicked him in the shin, right where one of his bruises were. He grabbed hold of his shin and gave Mack a look of hatred. Coach Bolton had never seen this behavior in either of his children.

"Mack, I'm taking you with me. I doubt you want to go to school and have the kids ask you questions. Since you were sick yesterday they probably wont ask any tomorrow." Jack looked at Troy who's leg was bleeding and his hands were covered in blood. "Troy go upstairs and get cleaned up, Mack and I'll wait in the car."

The coach tossed the keys to Troy before guiding Mack to the car. Once they were inside, they sat in silence before Jack spoke. "Mack, I'm disappointed about you skipping school."

"I thought you would be." Mack's voice was very quiet, Jack turned his head quickly to see if anything was wrong with his daughter. She was staring out the window. This behavior was very strange.

"What's wrong princess?"

Mack turned to look at him. "He's scaring me, Daddy. Troy's scaring me."

Jack took a deep breath. He was going to have a long talk with Troy later.

hsmhsmhsmhsm

Calum unlocked the door. His parents and brother were gone. He walked to the answering machine, 1 new message. He quickly deleted it, knowing it was from the school, before walking up the stairs and into his room. He laid on his bed, he had to be out of the house by two o'clock so he wouldn't be home when Cam got out of school.

Calum looked around his room. There were various basketball jerseys, trophies, medals, certificates and other memorabilia, scattered through out it. His entire life had been focused around basketball, learning from his brother's mistakes, being the star that West High would need when Cam left.

To tell you the truth, Calum had never wanted to go to West High.

But his whole family had gone to West High; his parents, both sets of grandparents, and even his great-grandparents on his dad's side. Now his brother had continued the tradition. He sighed, there was no way his parents would sign the commitment form if it had East High as the high school.

Especially since Troy, Mr. Bolton, and Mack would be there.

He knew his parents would ask why he wanted to go, and he couldn't tell them the truth. He was afraid, not only for himself, but for Cam too. He knew if he told Cam that one of the reasons he wanted to go there was Mack, he would blow up and probably get into a 'fight until death' fight with Troy. And he wouldn't be the cause of his brother's funeral.

Or Troy's.

He turned on the radio, trying to drown out his thoughts. 'Everytime' by Simple Plan was almost over, and he sang along with the chorus.

"Everytime I see your face. Everytime you look my way. It's like it all falls into place. Everything feels right. Everytime I hear your name. Everytime I feel the same. It's like it all falls into place. Everything, everything feels right."

He felt his eyes watering, he would never be anything more than Mack's _secret_ admirer. His parents hated hers, her brother hated his and his brother loathed hers. So, why did he like her so much?

His parent's thought at night he dreamed of shooting the game winning basket in his brother's old number for West High. In reality, he dreamed of Mack; her blue eyes, her dark, dirty blond hair, her beautiful smile. He daydreamed of her in class, at practice, at the dinner table. Calum wanted her on his arm at prom, not some cheerleader that he didn't know like Cam would have.

But, he could only look at her from a distance.

He knew that talking to her yesterday and skipping school for her that morning was a bad idea. If his friends had seen him, they would have told his brother. But it seemed so _right_. He shut his eyes to block the tears from escaping, his brother told him that only 'girly-guys' cried, but he couldn't help it. He need Mack, she completed him. He knew- even at his young age- that Mack was who he needed. He didn't want anyone else, and he was willing to wait for Mack- but it hurt.

He wished that he could talk to someone about these feelings, but he knew he couldn't. His family was out of the question. His friends were all 'West High all the way' basketball players that could careless about that sort of thing, and even if they did they wouldn't keep it to themselves. If Mack would come in between him and West High or him and basketball, they'd tell Cam or just go straight to his parents.

He opened his dark brown eyes and let the tears escape. He turned on his side and faced the wall. He curled into a ball and fell asleep thinking of Mack.

**I hope you liked this. I thought it would be interesting to see Calum's side of the story. Yeah he really likes Mack, but he's not some sort of stalker-in-training. He just can't tell anyone about his thing for Mack and it's all bottled up. Sometimes you just have to let everything out. Hope you liked it! Review, I didn't get a a lot of reviews last time, I was kind of disappointed. Review!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Thanks for the reviews! Here's chapter 6!**

The front door slammed shut and woke Calum up from his slumber. He looked at the clock- 2:15- Cam was home. His eyes widened. "What am I gonna do," he whispered to himself, sitting up in bed. He quickly shut off his radio, desperate for silence. He heard footstep climbing up the stairs and prepared himself for the worst.

The door opened and Calum turned toward it. Cam stood there with an expression of confusion on his face. "I thought I heard music," he said, walking over to Calum's bed. "What are you doing home?"

Calum had to think fast. He had one chance. His brother seemed concerned, but Calum didn't know how much of the real story Cam knew. "I didn't feel good. Dad picked me up and went back to work."

Cam nodded, "do you need anything?"

"No."

"I'm going with the guys. I'll have my cellphone, call me if you need anything." Cam walked to the door and stopped. He turned around, "are you sure, I don't need to go. I'll stay here if you want some company."

"Nah. I need some more sleep anyways," Calum said, finishing it with a fake yawn.

Cam gave him a skeptical look. "Calum, I don't want to leave you alone if you're sick."

"I'll be fine, I've been alone all day."

"And you look like crap." Cam looked at his brother. His eyes were somewhat red and puffy and he was paler than a ghost.

"I'll call you if I need anything," Calum said, hoping his brother would leave.

"Okay, I'll stay close."

Cam walked down the stairs with a bad feeling in his stomach. He knew he shouldn't leave Calum alone, but Calum seemed eager to let him go. He shook off the feeling before locking the door to the house. If he was leaving Calum at home alone, he wanted to make sure no one could get inside.

Calum watched his brother from his window. He let out a deep breath when his brother and his friends rounded the corner. He hadn't thought it would be that easy to get rid of him. Calum walked back to his bed, and fell on top of it. "This is going to be a long day alone," he said to the ceiling, before hitting the on button on his radio and shutting his eyes.

hsmhsmhsmhsm

"Hey Gabriella," Troy said leaning against her locker. Gabriella shook her head and laughed a little bit at Troy's stance.

"Don't you have free period work out now?"

"You see, a captain is useless if he was a bruised rib."

Gabriella sighed before turning her attention to her locker. "You know I hate it when people fight Troy-"

"He started it," Troy said harshly. Gabriella tensed a little bit and Troy softened his expression. "Hey, you want to do something tonight?"

"On a school night?"

"We could study?" Troy said smiling. Gabriella shut her locker and smiled. "How about rehearsals. Darbus is freaking out."

"Alright," Troy said. He leaned in to kiss her, when he heard someone clear their throat. Troy and Gabriella looked up at Coach Bolton. Troy smiled like he had earlier that morning and Gabriella blushed. "Bye Coach Bolton."

"See you soon Gabriella," he said to the girl as she kissed Troy's cheek and headed to the classroom where she was going to meet Taylor. "Troy, I want to talk to you." Coach Bolton grabbed his son's arm and lead him through the mob of students. Once they got to his office, he motioned for Troy to sit down.

"Deja vu," Troy said, trying to lighten the mood after seeing the look on his father's face.

"Troy, I talked to your sister today, you want to know what she told me?"

"It couldn't have been good," Troy said, chuckling nervously.

"No, it wasn't. You're scaring her."

"What," Troy said confused.

"And I can understand where she's coming from."

"What!" This time Troy was outraged.

"Troy, you've changed and I wont have you acting like you are in my house. I want you to skip practice today and go home. REST! That's what you need. If I catch you anywhere but the house, I wont be afraid to ban you from the tournament." Coach Bolton saw his son's mouth drop and his eyebrows raise. "The last thing the team needs is your _new_ attitude," he said adding extra emphasis on 'new.'

Troy was silent for a minute and Jack thought he wasn't going to say anything. "What about rehearsal?"

"I'll talk to Darbus about that." The coach's voice was concerned. "I'm worried about you Troy."

"You don't have to worry about me, I'll be fine."

"No." The coach took a deep breath. "I don't want you making the same mistake I did," he added quietly.

**How do you like it? A little short I know but I really liked the suspense that the end makes! Sorry..._Review!_**


	7. Chapter 7

**Thanks for the reviews! Here the next chapter!**

"Hey Cal, where were you yesterday?"

Calum turned around to see two boys running towards him. One of the boys had tan skin, green eyes and dark hair. He was wearing jeans and t-shirt. The speaker had blond hair and blue eyes. He wore a basketball sweatshirt- much like the one Calum had lent to Mack. That reminded him that Mack still had it. He took a deep breath, hoping for her safety that she didn't wear it.

"Hello, earth to Calum!" The tan boy said waving his hand in Calum's face. Calum shook his head and smiled a nervous smile. "Adam and I were wondering where you were yesterday."

"Oh, I was a little sick," Calum said, fake coughing to make it seem more realistic. The blond boy raised an eyebrow and the tan boy gave him a look. "It was personal, okay?" Calum tried. "What did I miss yesterday?"

"Oh, lets see... that killer algebra test, the history lecture and the worst practice of all time," Adam, the blond boy, said in a voice that clearly told Calum if you were going to skip, yesterday was the day to do it.

"But Adam, you forgot something very important that happened yesterday," the tan boy said slyly.

"Oh yeah! Teagan you just made my day!" Adam's face shone with excitement. "We played the biggest prank of the year on the 'East High girls.' You would have enjoyed it so much."

"To bad Bolton was sick. I would have loved to see her yelling." Teagan threw off his voice in an attempt at making a girl's whining voice. "I'll tell my brother on you! Troy's not going to be happy when he hears about what you did! He and Chad will come after you!"

Teagan and Adam started to laugh at Teagan's Mack impersonation, although Calum didn't find it enjoyable. His fist clenched and his face held a look of anger. Teagan noticed elbowed Adam. Both looked at Calum, and he tried to laugh it off.

"You're not going soft on Bolton are you?" Adam asked.

"No, why would I go soft on Ma- I mean Bolton." Calum turned around, facing away from his friends, so they couldn't see him biting his lower lip. His heart sank and his head lowered. Adam and Teagan caught on to this and walked forward so they could see his face.

Calum could feel both of their gazes on his face, which he made sure was looking at the ground. "You are going soft on her!" Adam said. "How could you!"

"Look, I couldn't control it! It just happened," Calum said pushing his best friends aside and walking up to the school. Teagan and Adam looked at each other before Adam pulled out his cell phone and looked at the time. "Okay, we have two minutes before West High's bell rings." Adam flipped the phone and dialed the all to familiar cellphone number of Cam Boucher.

hsmhsmhsmhsmhsm

"Dude, why weren't you at practice yesterday?" Chad said, walking up to Troy who was sitting on the steps. Zeke, Jason and Ryan following close behind. Troy looked distant and each of the boys could see it from a mile away.

"My dad told me to go home." He paused before saying, "am I a monster?" His eyes were fighting back tears.

"No, why would you say that?" Zeke was the only one able to speak. The others were too shocked. Who would call Troy Bolton a monster?

"My dad talked to Mack yesterday and she said she's afraid of me." He was looking at his hands as if they were splattered with blood. Chad noticed his hands were shaking and it reminded him of the night Troy fought with Cam Boucher. The four boys looked at each other and then back at Troy. Ryan sat down next to him and Jason slung an arm around his shoulder. Zeke pulled out some cookies and Chad looked very deep in thought- something they didn't normally see. Zeke pushed the cookies into Troy's hands and Ryan held on to them so they wouldn't shake and drop the cookies. Troy just sat there and shook his head, his whole body now shaking.

"Are you okay?" Jason asked. Troy's breathing had become irregular. "She couldn't even look me in the eyes this morning. I'm a monster."

"You're not a monster," Ryan stated firmly. "You look like you didn't get any sleep last night."

"I didn't," Troy said so quietly that Jason and Ryan- who were sitting right next to him- could barely hear the words that escaped his mouth.

"Troy that's not healthy," Jason said concern apparent in his voice. "Why don't we take you to your dad. He needs to know-"

"No. He can't know. I was suppose to go home and rest instead of going to practice. If he knew I didn't rest... I don't want to know."

"Troy, you're dad was just worried about you," Zeke said.

"Yeah, he wouldn't get mad at you. If you're this upset he needs to know," Jason agreed.

"If you go to practice like this, he'd know anyways right," Ryan tried. He hoped that was right, he didn't know that much about basketball.

"Which is why I'm not going to practice guys. I'm pulling myself off the roster. My spot can go to someone who deserves it more than I do."

Chad looked up from his thoughts, "what makes you think you don't deserve your spot? Your the best guy on the team!"

Troy stayed silent and Chad decided not ask anymore about it. The warning bell rang and the boys stood up. "You okay," Jason asked. Troy nodded his head and walked to Ms. Darbus' room, still a little shaky, making the four boys behind him wonder if leaving their coach out of it was the best idea.

hsmhsmhsmhsmhsm

"Mack! We were so worried about you!" Seconds after Mack heard this, she was trampled by two girls, both were the same height, but other than that they looked completely different. One girl had fair skin and auburn hair, the other was African-American.

"Bailey, Keisha, can't breathe!"

"Sorry," Keisha, the African-American said. The two stepped off of her and let her get up.

"You must have been really sick," Bailey commented.

"Yeah, or something like that," Mack replied as the two girls led her inside, unaware she had said anything other than 'yeah.'

**So, you met Calum's friends and the girls Mack hangs around with. Tell me what you think! Hope you liked it. Next chapter's on it's way! _Review!_**


	8. Chapter 8

**Sorry for the delay! It wouldn't let me upload the chapters. Thank you very much for reviewing! Here's Chapter 8!**

Jason passed the ball to Troy, who shot for a three and missed. The team- all of whom had talked to Chad before practice- gave Troy encouraging words. Although, most of them felt bad for the star, there was one or two that enjoyed watching Troy miss and him being just one of the basketball players, instead of the star he was.

Zeke looked over at Coach Bolton who was shaking his head and then to Troy, who looked depressed and tired. He had asked Troy earlier that day when he thought the last time he had woken up was. Troy had replied, "seven o'clock yesterday morning."

Chad was getting nervous for Troy. He didn't want Troy to get sick again. Zeke, Jason, and Ryan all agreed with him, that after the practice Zeke, Jason, and himself would tell Coach Bolton about this, so Troy wouldn't get sick or hurt in anyway from lack of sleep. Chad was just about to grab the ball that was bouncing away from the team- none of them wanting to chase it- when he heard a large crashing noise. He turned around quickly and ran, the ball forgotten in his mind. Troy was on the ground, not moving and his eyes shut. The one thing going through Chad's mind was 'please, let him be breathing.'

hsmhsmhsmhsmhsm

Mack took an extra long time at her locker and told her friends to leave without her. She had gotten a note at lunch time telling her to stay a little longer at her locker than usual from Calum. She smiled at the memory. She had all of her things ready to go and the halls were emptying fast. "Hey, how was school?"

Mack turned to look at Calum. She had to fight the urge to just lean up and kiss him. 'What if he doesn't like me like that,' she didn't want to ruin whatever they had going. "As good as school can get," she replied. Her rolled his eyes and she grabbed her backpack. "How did your parents feel about you skipping?"

"To be honest, they never found out."

"Really," Mack said surprised. "They called my house first and then the school to get contact with my dad."

"Probably because the office calls East High so often they know the number by heart, and they were too lazy to look up my parent's work numbers."

"Very good thinking skills, Mr. Boucher."

"I try," he smiled. 'His teeth are perfect,' Mack thought to herself.

"Shall we?" He held out his arm and she linked hers with his, and they walked out of the school. They walked down the sidewalk in silence for a few moments, neither of them knowing what to say. Mack finally broke the silence by saying, "you know you didn't have to do this. I know that your friends-"

"My friends? If they can't except this, then how can I call them my friends?" Calum said the words from his heart. He really meant what he said, "I'll just have to make new friends."

"But your brother-"

"I don't care about him. Well, I do... but you know. He can't control my life. I need to be free to do what I want with whom I want. I just wished I figured it out sooner, we could have been great friends."

'Or more,' they both added silently to themselves, neither knowing the other was thinking the same thing.

"There's your house," Calum pointed out, sticking his hands in his pockets.

"Do you want to come in? My dad and Troy are at practice."

"What about you're mom?"

Mack smiled, for once she was glad her mom was away. "She's in Annapolis on business, she won't be back until tomorrow."

"Alright, if you want me to."

"I do," she smiled before grabbing his hand out of his pocket and pulling him up to the front door. She was happy he was behind her so he couldn't see her blush, but- had she been looking at him- he had turned a bright shade of red himself.

She unlocked the door and led him to the living room. "You seem tense."

"It's not everyday a guy gets to go into the house his brother's enemy lives. What if we get caught? Your brother could get home early...or my brother-"

"Calum! Stop worrying." She walked over to the door leading to the backyard, "we could go outside if you wanted." Without waiting for an answer, Mack opened the door and motioned for Calum to follow her, which he did. She sat down on the grass next to the court and he sat down next to her.

There was an awkward silence that Calum couldn't stand. "So...what do you usually do around here?"

"Usually," Mack said, "I play some stupid game with Troy and his friends."

"Like what?" Calum asked.

"Like tag- you're it," she leaned across him and tapped his arm playfully, before getting up and sprinting away from him as fast as she could. He jumped up and ran right after her. Once he was close enough, he dived at her, his arms circling around her waist, pulling them both down. They landed on the grass, Mack underneath Calum, their faces less than an inch apart. Calum stared into Mack's blue eyes and knew if he was ever going to get up the courage to kiss her, it was now. Mack shut her eyes as Calum leaned down, placing his lips gently on hers.

Calum broke the kiss almost immediately. "I shouldn't have done that. I'm so sorry-"

"That's okay Calum," she answered, opening her eyes so she could look into his brown eyes. "I liked it."

She brought her hand to his cheek and brushed her fingers against his warm skin. Bringing his hand to touch hers, he smiled at her reaction. "Mack, would you be my girlfriend?" He bit down on his lip, hoping he did the right thing. She smiled and nodded her head, making his last thought leave his mind. He was just about to kiss her again when he heard a frantic voice entering the yard. Calum rolled over and Mack sat up as Jason entered through the gate, not even noticing Calum's existence. "Mack! You've got to hurry! We're gonna have to run."

"Run where?" Mack asked, sharing a confused look with Calum.

"The hospital, Troy collapsed."

**Hope you liked it! Mack and Calum's first kiss, aww! Well chapter 9 should be up soon. _Review!_**


	9. Chapter 9

Coach Bolton sat on a very uncomfortable chair in the waiting room of the hospital. He couldn't help think that a hospital should have chairs that people could sit in and think without the chair's lack of comfortableness getting into their thoughts.

He ran a hand through his hair. What had he done wrong? He tried to make Troy happy, healthy, yet he still collapsed at practice. Jack had no idea what could have caused the sudden fall. He kept reliving his most recent memory.

_Jack knelt beside his son checking for a pulse, while Chad put his ear over Troy's mouth to see if he was breathing. He could feel a very weak pulse. He heard a sigh of relief come from Chad, meaning Troy was breathing. Zeke, who's mother was a nurse, grabbed Troy's legs and held them as if they were in the seat of a chair. Jack trusted him completely, knowing Zeke knew more about medicine than he did._

_Troy's eyes fluttered open, and Jack felt a tear of happiness fall down his cheek and onto the court beside Troy. His son's face held a frightened look and he moved his head trying to find out where he was. "You're in the gym Troy," Chad said. _

_Jack became worried when Troy started to shake, but Jason assured him that Troy shook when he was scared or upset. "Coach, we should probably get him to the hospital," Zeke said. "Just to make sure nothing is wrong, I mean, 16-year-olds don't normally faint. Unless... but there's no blood here and he doesn't faint at the sight of blood." The last bit was more to himself than to the group._

_Jack nodded his head and picked up his son off the ground. He was shocked, Troy felt like a feather in his arms. "Don't be scared Buddy okay," he had said using the nickname that he had used when Troy couldn't pronounce his name. Troy was a pretty hard name for the kid to say. Troy just nodded his head and gulped._

_The coach had heard Chad barking orders, for Jason to get Mack and Zeke to get Gabriella and bring them to the hospital. _

He'd only been there for a few minutes-although it seemed like hours- but he was scared. What if something was really wrong with Troy. All sorts of 'what if' situations flooded his brain. He looked at all the other families in the waiting room. Most of them had a mother, father, children, aunts and uncles. He felt a feeling a hate fill him. He was here for his son, who was still young and carefree. They were here for some old person who was going to die soon anyway.

His eyes widened, what was happening to him? He took out his wallet and looked at the pictures of Troy and Mack when they were little. He chuckled a little at Troy's first grade picture, he had one of his front teeth missing.

"Coach, how is he?" Jack turned to see Chad run up. He had the team behind him, minus Jason and Zeke who were doing there assigned jobs.

"I don't know, they wont tell me." He said. Chad nodded his head and sat down with the team. An elderly woman came and sat down next to Jack. "You're new," she said.

Jack gave her a look and she continued. "You're new, I come here everyday. Son or daughter in the hospital?"

"Son," Jack replied, his voice shaky. He felt like he could talk to her and tell her his whole story.

"Nothing serious I hope."

"We don't know yet."

She nodded her head. She looked to the doors that led to the outside, as if she expected something to happen. Just as she did, Zeke and Gabriella came running in with Ryan, Sharpay and Taylor behind them. "They with you?" She asked. Jack nodded.

"That your son?" She pointed at the picture he had been looking at earlier. "He'll be alright."

Jack looked at her, she was smiling. "He is a cute kid, he'll make it. No one could take away that face."

"He's older now," Jack said, wanting to make sure she knew that before she lifted his spirits.

"I know, the older they get, the cuter they become." She flipped the pictures before finding Troy's most recent school picture. "He looks like a fighter, strong-willed. He'll be okay."

"How do you know?"

She laughed, "it is a gift." The doors opened again. An older couple walked in, tears staining their faces. "They weren't so lucky, no?" The woman said to Jack.

"Mr. Bolton?" Jack looked up to see a doctor standing before him. He was young and tall with light brown hair and blue eyes. He reminded Jack of Troy. "I'm Dr. Andrews, I'm taking care of Troy."

Jack nodded and noticed that elderly lady had gone. She was nowhere to be seen. "Oh, Mrs. Quinn is always here. Ever since her son died, she likes to cheer parents in the waiting room up. No one knows how she does it or how she can tell the difference between parents and other family members. Now, follow me."

Dr. Andrews led Jack down the hall to his office. He noticed that the office was filled with heart models and diagrams. Jack also noticed the diploma behind him- NYU. Taking a closer look at Dr. Andrews' desk, he noticed the name plate- Sam Andrews, Pediatric Cardiologist. Jack blinked to make sure he saw right.

"Mr. Bolton, don't be alarmed. We're still performing tests on Troy." Jack looked up and Dr. Andrews motioned for him to sit down. "Should we wait for his mother?"

"No, she's away on business, I'll contact her later. No use worrying her over something she can't help."

"Alright. Now, we've asked him a series of questions about his fainting, to make sure that it wasn't a seizure that caused it. But, I could tell he was scared to death, so I'm going to ask you a few of the questions if thats okay-"

"Of course," Jack interrupted.

"Alright, have there been any family problems. A fight maybe..."

Jack thought about it. The thing about Troy and Mack would count as a problem right. "I guess if you count a sibling argument a fight." Dr. Andrews pulled out a pad of paper and started to take notes.

"How about changes in behavior?"

Jack nodded almost immediately. "Is it from stress or-"

"Yes, he's trying to take everything on at once."

"When was the last time he slept?"

Jack didn't know how to answer this. He had no idea. He had told Troy to go home and rest, but he doubted that he did. "I don't know. You could ask his friends if you need the information, they'll know, he tells them everything."

Dr. Andrews nodded, "they are here right?"

"Yes."

"Tell me names, I'll go talk to them, you can go see Troy."

"Chad Danforth, Zeke Baylor and Jason Cross."

Dr. Andrews walked out of the room, leaving Jack to go to Troy's room. He didn't know which way to go, all he knew was the number 546. After a few minutes of wandering down the halls, a nurse stopped him and gave him directions. Jack opened the door- once he found it- and walked in. The hospital surroundings made Troy look that much more sick. He noticed his eyes, that looked like they needed sleep and his face was pale from being afraid. Troy was hooked up to a heart monitor (EKG) that was beeping every few seconds. He also had sensors on his head, a brain wave test (EEG). Troy looked over to the door, "hey Dad."

"Look at all the stuff you're connected to," Jack said amazed that a 'healthy' kid could be hooked up to so many machines. "What else did they do?"

"They took a x-ray of my chest and they took an ultrasound of my heart. I was just unconscious, it's not like I almost died. There is nothing wrong with me, I would have known."

Jack sighed. "Troy, they have to make sure they know whats going on with you."

"I know, but they asked me all kinds of stupid questions."

"That's part of their job Troy."

"Hey dad, remember the other day when you said you didn't want me making the same mistake you did, what was the mistake?" Jack was about to reply when the door creaked open and shut. Mack walked in very slowly, fighting back tears as she looked at Troy.

"I heard about you not sleeping Troy. It's all my fault."

"No, Mack it's not," Troy said, trying to convince her. "I jumped to conclusions that weren't right. Unless you do think I'm a monster." She shook her head and he held out his arms as best he could around the wires. As she walked over, she tripped over a cord and fell on top of him, moving one of the wires and making the heart monitor flat line.

**I don't know if all of it is medically right, but I tried! I'm sorry if some of it's wrong and someone takes it the wrong way. I've never experienced fainting, but one of my friends faints at the sight of blood, so I thought about what happens to her a little. **

**I had to tell you that Mack messed up the wires, I couldn't make you think Troy's heart stopped. So do you think Mrs. Quinn is right with her gift? Hope you liked this one as much as you liked the other ones. _REVIEW!_ **


	10. Chapter 10

**Hey, thanks for the reviews! Wow, Chapter 10! Here it goes...**

"Calum, dinner!" Calum sat up from his position on his bed and stared out the window. He'd been thinking about Mack and the happiness he had felt with her, and then the sadness that he had felt when he heard about Troy. Boucher's weren't supposed to feel either of those feelings about Bolton's.

He walked down the stairs noticing a look that his father was giving him. Calum refused to meet his eyes, he was sure his father knew he skipped practice. He sat at the table, this wasn't going to be a happy dinner time.

"So, Cam how was practice?" Mr. Boucher asked.

"It was hard, Coach had us running sprints. He really wants us to beat East High in this tournament. I hope we do and show Bolton that we're better than they are." Both parents nodded in agreement and Cam smiled at their reaction.

Mr. Boucher's eyes landed on his second son, who was pushing his food around his plate. "How was practice, Calum? Oh, wait, you didn't go."

Calum felt three sets of eyes on him now. He looked up a Cam, who had a look of surprise on his face, then to his mother, who had a look of confusion on hers. "But, Daniel, I was home all day, I would have known if Calum had come home after school."

"Yeah Dad, why would Calum skip?" It was sarcastic. Calum looked to Cam, the look of surprise had been fake. Calum felt Cam's eyes on him, they were filled with anger.

"I don't know Cam. I thought you loved basketball, Calum. Where was your head?" Mr. Boucher was concerned for his son, and mad at the same time. Cam looked as if he was enjoying seeing Calum suffer through the dinner. "I know," Cam said.

Calum turned his head to look at Cam, this couldn't be happening. "I got a call from Adam this morning. He told me that you were 'going soft' on Mack Bolton. Walk her home Calum?"

Calum sunk down in his chair as his dad started to speak. "Calum, I got a call from Coach Diego. He asked me if you were still sick. He said you haven't been to two practices in a row and that you weren't in school yesterday."

Cam pounded his fist on the table and stood up. "You lied to me! You told me Dad picked you up because you didn't feel good! I bet you were with that snooty little slut-"

"She's not snooty and she's not a slut," Calum said standing up. He wouldn't win in a fight, he knew that, but it made him look more tough. "She's really nice."

"You do like her!"

"So what! And you know I don't just like her, she's my girlfriend! You had better stay away from her too, because I'll quit basketball. I don't care about it. Oh yeah, and I'm not going to be Cam Jr. again. I'm not following in your footsteps, because guess what, I'm going to East High!"

"No you're not," Mr. Boucher yelled. "I'm not having one of my sons play for Jack Bolton at East High! There is no way! You will go to West High and you'll like it. I don't care if your precious girlfriend does go to East High."

"If you go to East High because of Bolton, what happens when you break up. Calum, a little crush will pass," Mrs. Boucher said, trying to convince Calum that he should go to West High.

"But, Mom, you don't understand. I want to go to East High for other reasons and have for a long time. And what I have with Mack isn't a crush. It's more than that. She's not just some girl you meet, she's special."

Mr. Boucher sighed. "Calum, if this is for attention-"

"Attention! How could you say that. I've loved Mack for a long time."

Mr. and Mrs. Boucher shared a look. "Loved," Mrs. Boucher said warily.

"Yes, and I need to be with her."

"You will do no such thing," Mr. Boucher exploded. "She's a Bolton, Calum."

"I don't care! Don't you see that?" He walked over to the door, "I'll be at the hospital, I want to see how Troy's doing." Seeing the look on his mother's face he added, "Troy collapsed."

"Serves him right," Cam said leaning against the wall, crossing his arms around his chest. Calum walked over to Cam and punched him hard in the stomach before grabbing his bike and riding full speed to the hospital.

hsmhsmhsmhsmhsm

Calum dropped his bike in the middle of the sidewalk. He didn't really care where he put it. He needed to get up there. He went to the front desk where a kind looking woman sat. She had brown hair and a smile that made Calum trust her immediately. "Do you know which room is Troy Bolton's?"

"Room 546 on the fifth floor."

"Thank you." Calum made it to the elevator and pressed the button with the five on it. He had always hated hospitals, he didn't know why. No one in his family had ever been admitted for something bad. The only time someone was in the hospital was when a new baby was born. The elevator door opened and he stepped out into a hall. He looked up at the direction sign: cafeteria- right, waiting room- left.

Calum turned left down the hall until he made it to the waiting room. He regretted it once he stepped foot in the area. The chairs were being occupied by the Wildcat's basketball team, something Calum hadn't even thought about- but of course, these were Troy's friends.

"What are you doing here?" Chad asked, anger filling his voice as he strode toward Calum. Calum backed up a few steps. Zeke, Ryan and Jason came up behind Chad as if challenging Calum. Each of them had equal looks of anger that matched Chad's. "You shouldn't be here. I'll give you ten seconds to leave before you end up in one of these rooms too." Chad's voice was threatening, much like his family's voices had been. Today was just not his day.

"What are you boys doing to the poor kid?" The four turned.

"Gabriella, this is Boucher's brother," Jason said, pointing over his shoulder to the obviously scared Calum.

"Well, whoever he is you're scaring him half to death," Taylor said standing next to Gabriella. "Chad, you get over here and stop scaring the poor thing." Chad didn't hear her, he was looking down the hall where a bunch of doctors were rushing to Troy's room. Calum found this the best moment to run over to Sharpay who was motioning for him to come sit next to her. Once he was seated next to Sharpay, he looked at Chad, who- like the three other boys- had a look of horror on his face. Calum shut his eyes, today really wasn't his day.

**So, poor Calum's family didn't take it too good. Tell me what you think! _Review!_**


	11. Chapter 11

**Thanks for the reviews! Over a hundred, wow! Well, I know you're all look forward to reading this chapter, I hope this chapter answers some of your questions. Here is Chapter 11!**

"Way to go, Mack," Troy said groaning. Coach Bolton was laughing at the expression on his son's face as the doctor's stopped the long, never ending noise.

"Sorry."

After his laughter subsided, he could see that Troy needed sleep. "Mack, why don't you come with me. I need to call you're mother." Troy whispered something in Mack's ear and she rolled her eyes, before mouthing 'of course, how could I not send her in?' Jack grabbed her hand and slowly led her out of the room, so she didn't trip and do something harmful to Troy. Once they were out of Troy's room, they parted, Mack going right and Jack going left.

"Mack, what happened in there?" Mack turned at the frantic voice. Chad was running toward her. "I saw doctors. Is he alright?"

"He's fine, I tripped over the cord, and the heart monitor got all messed up." She smiled as Chad's face relaxed. "What, did you think he died or something?"

"Well..."

"Chad, he'll be fine," she told him in a confident voice.

"When is he being discharged?" Ryan asked, walking up with Jason and Zeke.

"We don't know. He has to be 'carefully watched' for 24 hours, and then he has to take a test to see if they can diagnose anything. He can't eat for 4-6 hours before the test, so they're doing it tomorrow. He'll be out by... Saturday maybe? When does your tournament start?"

"Monday, but we have to catch our flight on Sunday," Zeke said. The team was doing math on their fingers to see if Troy could be able to make it.

"It should be nothing guys, he seems healthy and his machines weren't going all crazy or anything. I'm sure he'll be able to play." Mack said all of this with a fake smile on her face. She doubted her mom was going to let Troy leave the couch all vacation, let alone travel to go play basketball in the vacation tournament.

She walked away from the team and over to the girls who were chatting with Calum. Mack smiled seeing him. She walked to Gabriella, "Troy wants to see you."

"He's awake? Then what was all the commotion down there for?" Sharpay asked.

"Troy was fine the whole time. It was all my fault actually." At the end of her story, everyone in the circle was laughing at Mack's klutziness, because anyone who knew her knew she wasn't normally klutzy. Gabriella stood up and walked down the hall to Troy's room. Taylor and Sharpay sent each other a look before going over to talk to the boys- Chad looked about ready to kill the next person that walked by.

Mack and Calum stood up and walked down the hall. "So, how did you get out, it's about dinner time right?" Mack asked. Calum shrugged. "Dinner wasn't exactly the best. Cam found out... about everything."

"How?"

"Apparently, Adam called Cam this morning. My whole family looked about ready to attack when they found out I missed practices." He laughed, "you should have seen their faces when they found out about you."

Mack stopped walking and looked Calum right in the face. "You're not telling me everything."

Calum smiled, she could read like a book. "They weren't as mad about me skipping when I told them I wanted to be a wildcat instead of a knight."

"You want to go to East High?"

"I have for a long time, you just made the choice a lot easier."

"I'm glad your not just going because of me, but tell me the truth. What are the other reasons?"

Calum sighed. "I guess...I just wanted to get out of my brother's shadow. It's always 'you're Cam Boucher's little brother, he was my favorite student!' Sometimes, I just want to be 'that kid.' My life was already planned out if I went to West High. I would get good grades, play basketball and get a scholarship to Stanford." He took a deep breath, "everything my brother did first. It'll be rough at East High because Cam's my brother, but I'll make it, as long as I'm happy."

"Why don't you tell your parents what you just told me?"

"Mack, you don't understand, and you never will." Calum leaned against the wall. "Because your parents want you to be happy. I mean, look at Troy, he's in the musical. If my brother wanted to be in the musical, he'd have to kill my parents first. They've brainwashed us from the beginning to play basketball, get good grades," he looked away from her as he said what came next, "and hate any Bolton we so happen to meet, which inevitably means: attending West High for four long years."

After a long pause, Mack broke the silence. "Why do parents hate mine so much?"

"I don't know, they don't go into detail. All they've told us was that your dad did something and we should hate you and your family for it. It doesn't make sense, but that's the way my parents are."

Mack grabbed Calum's hand and squeezed it, "I'll always be here for you."

"Be careful, Cam will probably be making an appearance sometime in the next few days. Keep an eye out, and if you see him, run or call me, but do not stay where he can get you. He'll come after you to get to me."

"I'll get Troy's cellphone from him, as he wont be needing it. Do you have one?"

Calum pulled one out of his pocket. "For emergencies only," he said winking, before scribbling down his number on a gum rapper he found in his pocket. Suddenly his phone started to ring. Mack nodded for him to answer it. "Hello?"

The elevator opened and Cam jumped out, cellphone in hand, "found ya."

**Bet you didn't expect that. Review! **


	12. Chapter 12

**Hey! Thanks for the reviews! I had to write another chapter, they're becoming addicting! Hope you like it!**

Cam grabbed Calum around his waist, covering his mouth with his hand. "You," he directed to Mack, "had better stay away from him. I don't want you putting any more crazy ideas in his head." He kicked the down button on the wall. His voice seemed so sincere as he said, "oh, and my dearest sympathy to your family about Troy. Poor thing-" his voice changed to a sneer, "-deserved everything he got." Cam started to walk into the elevator, "it will be less painful if you stop kicking, Calum." The door shut and Mack turned the other way and ran.

"Chad! Zeke! Jason!" All three turned around and Mack ran into Chad's embrace. "Cam-"

"What did he do to you?" Chad's words slid through his teeth that were forced together. His voice was at a low volume making him sound even angrier than he already was.

"He didn't...Calum-"

"As long as he didn't do anything to you- wait, why was Boucher here?" Jason asked.

"If he was here to hurt Troy-"

"Chad, just listen to me!" Mack shouted. "He took Calum, he was hurting him."

"I'm sure Calum can protect himself," Zeke said.

"But, he-"

"Mack, that family is none of our business, what they do is what they do," Jason said. "As long as you're alright-"

"I'm not alright, I don't want Cam to do to Calum what he did to Troy!"

"He wont, and if he does, that's one less Boucher we have to deal with," Chad said. "Mack, just calm down...he doesn't need you worrying about him."

"He needs someone to worry about him," Mack said getting an idea, "and I think that should be his girlfriend's job."

"Well then, let her worry about him," Jason said, hoping the argument was over.

"Then I will."

The three boys nodded, thought for a moment and then their eyes widened. Neither Chad nor Jason spoke, Zeke managed to say, "you," but it sounded more like a squeak. Mack nodded triumphantly.

"Mack."

She gave the three boys a quick smirk and walked toward her father. "You're mother's catching the next flight back. She'll be in Albuquerque in a couple hours. If you want, you can go home and I'll get you when I get your mom."

"How's Troy?"

"Gabriella just lulled him to sleep. He's doing fine. There's no need for you to stay here too, you should get some rest." Mack could tell her dad was more worried for her health now than he'd ever been.

Mack remembered what Calum had told her about Cam. "Can I stay here, I'll feel safer."

"Are you sure?"

She nodded her head and walked to her brother's room. The beeping noises- which were annoying the first time she had come- made her feel safe. She looked at Troy's peaceful face and felt a tear run down her face.

"Troy, I know you can't hear me because you're sleeping," she said in a whisper. "But, you're the best big brother in the whole world. You have to get better, because I don't know what I'll do without you." Playing limbo around the wires, she climbed into his bed and laid next to him. She placed her hand over his heart and -even if it was just her imagination- she felt the beating of his heart. "Please Troy, get better," she whispered.

hsmhsmhsmhsmhsm

Calum laid in bed looking at the clock, 11:18 pm. He took a deep breath, his parents hadn't said a word to him since Cam had brought him home. Cam had gone straight to his room. Calum had never heard his house so quiet. His parents were asleep, and had been for an hour. Cam was either asleep or watching television. Calum heard his door open and didn't need it to be light out to know it was Cam.

"Come with me," came Cam's voice. "Now Calum, I mean it."

Calum lifted himself off his bed walking over to Cam's voice. Cam grabbed him by the back of his shirt and dragged him down the hall. He let Calum walk down the stairs by himself, but pushed him into one of the chairs once they got into the kitchen. Cam turned on the lights, making Calum shut his eyes, which were sensitive to the light.

"Calum, I want you to answer this truthfully." Calum nodded his head. "Okay, what do you think you're doing?"

"Huh."

"Don't you go there with me," Cam hissed. "What kind of practical joke are you trying to pull? Are you trying to get back at me for my fight with Bolton?"

"What?"

"Calum!" Cam was getting really mad. "You're game is over. Tell me what you and Bolton's sister are doing and why."

"Cam, it's not a joke. I want to go to East High and Mack _is_ my girlfriend."

Cam turned around. "You really think this is funny. Well, if you don't stop this right now and tell me the truth, I'll-"

"You'll what Cam? Beat me? Go ahead, but don't go near Mack." Calum stood up and started to walk toward the stairs.

"Oh, no you don't." Cam grabbed him and slammed him down on the kitchen table. Calum's head was throbbing from being hit hard against the wood. Cam got right up in Calum's face. "So, it is true. You and Mack, what a cute couple." Cam plugged Calum's nose and cupped his hand over his mouth. "Well, you'll regret ever going near your little girlfriend. Good night, Calum."

Just before Calum passed out, Cam let go and let him catch his breath, before doing the same thing again. This time, he took his hands off of Calum quicker, letting him breathe faster. "This is for what you did earlier," Cam said before he punched Calum hard in the stomach. Calum moaned in pain, "not having fun, little brother? Think of this next time you see Mack." Cam punched him in the eye, and chuckled, jumping on and off of Calum's stomach multiple times.

Cam walked away from the moaning boy, jumping up the stairs two at a time. As soon as Calum knew Cam was in his room, he got off the table and walked as fast as he could to the door, each step he took was in excruciating pain. He grabbed his skateboard and took off into the night.

hsmhsmhsmhsmhsm

Mrs. Bolton and Mack stared at the phone, both awake and alert. "It was really stupid of Dad to say he would call us if anything changed."

"I feel like we should be there," Mrs. Bolton told her daughter, not taking her eyes off of the phone.

"The doctor told us to go home, that we couldn't do anything. Mom, what if Troy flat lines in the middle of the night and he's all alone-"

"Mack, you're scaring yourself. That wont happen."

"But Mom-"

"They said it was probably from stress-"

"How could that be right! He fainted! They said that to make us go home!"

A knock on the door stopped their fighting. "Who would be knocking at eleven thirty at night?" Mrs. Bolton asked. Mack gulped, could it possibly be Cam?

"Don't open the door!"

"Mack, sweetie, it might be news about Troy." Mrs. Bolton opened the door to find a beaten-up fourteen-year-old.

"Mrs. Bolton?"

"Oh, sweetie come in, what happened?" She led him into the kitchen. She knew that this was Calum, this was the boy her daughter had just told her about, whose brother was the reason Mack hadn't wanted the door opened.

"Calum!" She rushed over to him.

"Mack, don't worry, it's nothing," he said in a weak voice.

"Mom, what are we going to do?" Mack asked.

"Mack, all night I've been getting mother-signals telling me to go to the hospital. This is the last straw."

Mrs. Bolton grabbed her car keys off of the counter, grabbed the phone and dialed a number. "Jack, I'm coming, don't try to stop me you'll only waste your breath."

She hung up the phone and looked at Calum, "you poor thing. Let's get you to the hospital."

"No, I can't. My parent's will find out I'm here and-"

"I'm sure they wont mind in your condition," Mrs. Bolton said in a concerned voice. "You canbarely walk."

Calum looked at Mack, her eyes filling with tears. 'She's been through too much,' he thought and he reluctantly, let Mrs. Bolton take him to the hospital.

**What are his parents going to say? _Review!_**


	13. Chapter 13

**Thank you for the wonderful reviews! I'm always looking for new reviews to read! Here's Chapter 13! Hope you enjoy!**

"Where is my son!"

Mack looked up from her seat on the floor in Troy's hospital room. Her and Calum had been playing cards, since neither of them could fall asleep. Calum had been lucky, the biggest damage Cam had done was break a few of Calum's ribs. Troy- who had been awoken by the noise- moaned. Mrs. Bolton grabbed hold of his hand and pushed hair out of his face. She started singing a lullaby she had sung to both Mack and Troy when they were younger- and it had always worked. Jack strode over to the door and opened it, coming face to face with Daniel Boucher.

"Bolton, where's my son? I got a call from the hospital telling me he was here." His voice boomed though out the hall- waking many patients- at a volume no man should reach at 3 am in the morning.

"You know Daniel, you will never get your way by yelling at me and I would appreciate it if you wouldn't wake up my son."

"Oh, I'm sorry, did I wake your little boy," he said in fake sympathy.

"Get out," Coach Bolton said in a voice that made Mack remember Chad's voice earlier when he had learned Cam had come.

"Not without my son," Mr. Boucher said, pushing past Jack and grabbing Calum by the arm and jerking him upward. The sudden movement hurt Calum's ribs, which would be sore for days. He cried out in pain, making Mr. Boucher turn around and face his son concerned. "What happened?"

"Cam broke three of my ribs."

Mr. Boucher's face changed to an angry expression. "Calum, tell the truth."

"He is Mr. Boucher," Mack said standing up.

"_You_ have done enough," Mr. Boucher sneered. He looked over at the girl and his face held a look of disgust. Jack walked over to his daughter and put a hand on her shoulder.

"I think, it's time for you to go, Boucher. You can leave Calum here-"

"What do you think I'm crazy Bolton? Leave him with you? You have already brainwashed him into thinking East High is where he needs to go, I won't have you doing anything else to get him off the path we have laid out for him."

"Let go of him, don't you see you're hurting him," came a weak voice. Troy tried to lift himself in his bed, but he was pushed back down- gently- by his mother. "You know, a father should be more concerned about his child, not were he goes to school."

"You!" Mr. Boucher turned on his heel and pointed his finger at Troy. "You're the whole reason we got into this mess! Had you not been in the hospital, Calum wouldn't have run off."

"Troy is not the reason Mr. Boucher," Mrs. Bolton said. "No one is guilty of anything, except for your son who hurt his little brother."

"That's it, Calum we're leaving!" Despite Calum's painful moans, Mr. Boucher pulled the boy down the hall and to the elevator. The entire time, yelling at him about how bad the Bolton's were.

Mack walked over to Troy's bed and sat on the side. "You actually tried to help him. I didn't think you would.," she whispered.

"He was hurting him Mack. I had to say something," Troy said in a hoarse voice. Mack smiled and kissed her brother's forehead. Troy took a deep breath and shut his eyes. Within moments he was sound asleep.

Mack reached over Troy and held her mother's hand, not looking up from Troy's peaceful face. Jack walked over and sat in the seat next to his wife, placing his arm around her shoulders. Mack sighed before placing her head on Troy's chest- struggling to get in between the wires and not mess them up- and fell asleep.

hsmhsmhsmhsmhsm

"Bailey, is Mack sick again?"

Bailey looked around not knowing what to say. She didn't know where Mack was.

"She's at the hospital, Mrs. Peters," came a voice from the open door. Calum walked up to the front of the room and gave the homeroom teacher his late pass. "Troy collapsed the other day, she's staying with him," he explained before taking his seat in the third row next to Adam and behind Teagan.

The whole class had started whispering. "Did you see his eye?" "He seems so tired." "How does he know where Mack is?" "He looks horrible." It was true, Calum did look horrible, he had a black eye and was walking slow from his broken ribs. He also hadn't gotten very much sleep, the moment he got home he had a lecture about how a Boucher is supposed to hate a Bolton. He had finally fallen asleep at five in the morning, sitting in his seat at the kitchen table. His mother called in to tell her work she would be late, to let him sleep an extra hour.

"Dude, you okay?" Teagan asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine."

"How did you get the black eye?" Adam asked.

"You don't want to know."

The door opened once again, "sorry I'm late Mrs. Peters. Troy made me come." The whole class turned to see the one girl who never cried walk into class with her head held high. Mrs. Peters whispered something in her ear and Mack shut her eyes. Calum knew she was fighting back tears. She opened her eyes, which were behind a window of glassy tears that she wasn't going to let fall. She walked to her seat next to Bailey, looking at the clock, silently drumming her fingers on the desk. After a minute she looked down at her lap, Calum watching her every move. Bailey and Keisha led her out of the room, leaving the rest of the class to wonder if Troy was going to be okay.

Calum turned his head to stare out the window at the sunny day, before getting up out of his seat and walking to the door. He could hear whispers, but he didn't care. He started to jog down the hall toward the girls, who were leaning up against the wall at the end of the corridor. He grabbed Mack in his arms, holding her as tight as he could. In his mind, he was seething from the pain, but his heart was telling him to do this. His heart was telling him to do the right thing. For the second time in his life, he broke out of what was expected and followed his heart to a place where he didn't know what would happen.

**Tell me what you think! I hope you liked this one. I need a name for Mrs. Bolton, so if you have any ideas, let me know! Thanks. _Review!_**


	14. Chapter 14

**Thank you for all who gave me names! I had a rough time picking, you guys come up with some good ideas! I picked _Elaine_ for Mrs. Bolton's name and _Karen_ for Mrs. Boucher, seems as she needed a name too. Thanks to everyone who helped, I appreciate it. Here is the next chapter, hope you like it.**

"What happened?" Calum asked. Mack had her face in his chest, making his shirt soaked. He didn't mind. "What happened, is everything okay?" He stared down at her head, not looking over at Bailey or Keisha. He knew those two were giving him looks.

"They think it might be his heart," she said choking on her tears.

"But, how can that be? It was going at a steady beat all the time I was there." Calum said this more to himself than to Mack. He was surprised when she answered. "Apparently, the thing he might have comes and goes. They started monitoring him for 24 hours doing regular activity at about 6 in the morning." She took a deep breath. "I left before they said anything. What if..."

"Shh..." he said, stoking her hair and patting her back.

"I don't him to die Calum. Troy can't die." Calum didn't know what to say. It had never occurred to him that Troy could die. Calum felt tears in his eyes, he hadn't expected her to say that. These last few days had been disaster for her. He held her tight and stared up at the ceiling. On the ceiling tile were hand prints with names inside. The 8Th graders did this at the end of the year, a kind of leaving something of them behind. The first hand he looked at had the name: Troy Bolton.

He heard footsteps and looked down the hall. Teagan was walking calmly down the hall. "Mack, you need to go to the office. Your dad's here."

hsmhsmhsmhsmhsm

Chad, Jason, Zeke and Ryan walked into East High, trying to look like they always did. Ryan tried to strut down the hall- like he and Sharpay had done before they had become friends with the others- but it looked more like an act than any of his shows had. Chad tried to dribble his basketball, but it would bounce off his foot and roll away. Zeke tried to bake chocolate chip cookies the night before but even though he put in all the right ingredients, the cookies tasted wrong. Jason didn't even try to hide anything, he just walked with his head down, bumping into students left and right uttering a simple "sorry" after. Each of them were missing something, a vital ingredient.

Each of them were missing Troy and no one knew what was going on with him.

They walked into Ms. Darbus' room and walked by Troy's empty chair. Chad stared at it the longest, before taking his seat behind it and staring at it even more. Jason looked around the room. Sharpay was trying to keep her head held high. Taylor was getting frustrated with a simple math problem- one Chad could do without a second thought- until she finally just threw her pencil on the floor. Gabriella was talking to Ms. Darbus.

Then the one thing they didn't want to hear was said over the intercom. "Would all teachers please read their e-mails."

Everyone in the class, whether they knew about Troy or not, knew that when teachers read their e-mails at the same time, there was something wrong.

Ms. Darbus shut her eyes and looked back at the class. She stood up and sat on the table in the front of her classroom. "I know some of you have heard about Troy. For those who haven't, he collapsed yesterday at hockey practice."

"Basketball, not hockey," Chad said.

"Well, last night cardiologists were working around the clock with his results from multiple tests. This morning they diagnosed it. Coach Bolton just called, he wanted everyone to know the right thing, and not spread rumors. He has supraventriclar tachycardia which means his heart was beating 'too fast.' It isn't life threatening." Chad's face broke out in a smile for the first time since Troy was admitted to the hospital at the last two words. Zeke and Jason both let out a sigh of relief. Gabriella and Taylor both squealed with happiness. Sharpay and Ryan turned to look at each other before Sharpay turned to the front and did her little clap thing she does. (a/n you know in the very beginning of the movie when they are talking about try outs and she claps to herself...)

"Oh, and boys," she said to Chad, Jason and Zeke. "You guys are having practice tonight."

hsmhsmhsmhsmhsm

"Troy, we're going to keep you over night just to make certain, but you can leave tomorrow," Dr. Andrews said.

"Am I going faint again?" Troy asked. Jack heard the scared tone his voice had and remembered when Troy fainted. Jack had never seen Troy so afraid in his life and shuddered at the memory, hoping that would never happen again.

"Hopefully not. Your fainting was from lack of sleep and stress." Dr. Andrews smiled at Troy's expression. "Why, not want to faint again Troy?"

"No, thank you." His face had a curious look, "will I be able to play basketball?" Jack and Elaine shot each other a glance and Mack looked down at her feet.

"I don't see why not." Mack looked up, had she heard him right. Her brother had a heart condition, but he could play basketball?

"How?" Jack asked voicing Mack's question.

"Other than his heart, Troy should stay as healthy as he was before. We'll put him on some medicine that will control his heart rhythm and he'll need periodic check-ups." He directed the next part toward Troy. "You'll feel it when your heart starts to speed up. When it does stop it, and then the next thing we do is to prevent recurrences. Your parents have all information and don't hesitate to ask questions. There are a few things that you can do to slow it down. I'll tell you about those later and your parents will have directions on how to do anything I show you."

"Alright."

"If you have any questions, I'll be available. Now Troy, I'll show you what to do."

Jack led Mack out of the room so she could get a drink. They sat in silence in the cafeteria until Mack asked a question that had been on her mind all morning. "He's gonna be okay, right Dad?"

"Didn't you pay any attention to what the doctor said Mack? Yes he's going to be fine."

"So he's not going to die?"

Jack shut his eyes. "Yes, he's not going to die. Where did you get that idea?"

"Well, I guess I just jumped to conclusions, conclusions that were wrong. Wednesday I had a dream that Troy died and the family fell apart." She waited a minute. "Are you going to let him play in the tournament?"

"If your mother says yes and he wants to. I think I've been a little too harsh on Troy lately. Meeting with Daniel Boucher again helped me figure that out."

"Dad, what happened between you and the Boucher's anyway?"

Jack sighed. "Before I tell you, make this clear, it's not something I'm proud of..."

**As I said in previous chapters, I'm no doctor, I don't know if all of this is medically correct. If it isn't my apologizes. Hopefully there won't be any more medical talk...**

**Tell me what you think. As for all the other names I received, I'll keep track of them and I'll use them later on in other stories. Thanks!_ Review!_**


	15. Chapter 15

**Okay, just so you guys know the story is going a little back in time. Hope you enjoyit!**

_1981, championship game- the East High Wildcats vs. the West High Knights_

"Okay guys, West High is tough, but we are going to beat them," Captain Jack Bolton said to his team. The eleven other guys on the team cheered. "We're better, stronger and brighter! WHAT TEAM?"

"WILDCATS!"

"WHAT TEAM?"

"WILDCATS!"

"WILDCATS, GET'CHA HEAD IN THE GAME!" The team started jumping up and down, before exiting the locker rooms and onto the court. The crowd cheered and waved banners. Jack stood taking it all in. He had to win this game. Then he noticed Robbie, a guy who worked for his dad. He was only 21 and he and Jack were very good friends. Robbie had on a referee shirt on. Jack walked over to him.

"Hey Jack, your dad said that this is the big game!"

"Yeah," he answered in disbelief. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm your referee." Robbie walked past Jack and as he walked by whispered in Jack's ear. "Don't worry, you guys _are _going to win."

Jack's eyes widened. Who had paid Robbie? Their team could win without him making them.

"Jack!" Man was he popular today. He saw Daniel Boucher- a good friend of his- running toward him. "Hey you think we got a chance?" Daniel was a junior, a year behind Jack, and had made captain this season. Jack, who was a senior, had been captain last year as well.

"I don't know Daniel you think we got a chance? You guys got yourselves a good team this year."

"Oh, but the Wildcats are always good. Especially their captain," he said elbowing Jack. Jack let out a nervous chuckle.

"It should be a good game," was all Jack said. The West High coach called Daniel over and Jack was happy to see him go. He was still in shock of the Robbie situation. He walked over to the bench and sat down, taking deep breaths.

"Hey wildcat!" He looked behind him at the bleachers. Elaine was waving toward him. She was sitting with her friend Kathy and Kathy's boyfriend Chris Danforth, who was on the team but had an injury earlier in the season. He waved back, before turning back to the court and staring at his team.

"You nervous?"

Jack looked up at the best coach East High had ever had. Alex Wells could have gone to the NBA, had he wanted to, but he wanted to work with kids. "A little."

"You know what Jack, if you go out there and give me 110 percent, I'll be happy, no matter what the score is. Jack there is no need for you to be nervous. You go out there and show these people why you got that scholarship." Jack looked up into the coach's face and nodded. Alex patted Jack's knee before calling the team over and sending the starters out.

At half time, it was not going good. When Robbie had said they would win, he meant it. The Wildcats were winning 45-17 and had gotten called for one foul. The Knights had two people sitting out because they fouled-out and half of their team had at least 2 unnecessary fouls. The Knights were starting to get rough, they figured if they were going to loose, mind as well make it worth losing.

"Hey Bolton!" Jack looked back as Daniel walked up. "What's going on! That ref is calling fouls left and right...on us only!"

"I don't know Daniel," Jack said turning around toward the locker room.

"Don't lie to me Bolton, I saw you talking to him before the game. How much you give him? Twenty, thirty?"

Jack faced Daniel, "I didn't give him anything."

"Yeah right." He threw the ball full force at Jack's face. "I thought we were friends."

"We are!" Jack said rubbing his nose.

"No, we were." Daniel took the basket of balls (a/n I don't know what they're called, you know the thing schools keep their basketballs in) and pushed it at Jack. With the weight of the twenty or so balls inside it, the basket pushed Jack over. Daniel shrugged and started to strut back toward his team's bench.

Jack stood up and rushed toward him, pulling the younger boy to the ground. Both teams ran over to help their teammates. Robbie was blowing the whistle, but no one seemed to notice. Alex and the West High coach, started pulling their players off of each other. Jack and Daniel were amongst the last to be pulled apart. Jack was red from anger and bleeding from various places on his face and arms. Daniel was walking away, holding his wrist, which Jack had heard snap. Alex sat Jack on the bench.

"What do you think you're doing!"

"He started it Coach!"

"I don't care who started it! Remember our first rule, no contact fighting with the other team. Sanchez, go in for Bolton."

Jack shut up, knowing his coach was mad. The rest of the game, Jack looked down at his feet, finding an interest in the white sneakers. When the buzzer sounded, Jack looked at the score. The Wildcats had won 89-31. Daniel walked by Jack with a look of disgust on his face, his wrist swelling by the minute.

"Hope your happy Bolton," he said, just loud enough for Jack to hear. He didn't know why, but he felt guilty. Maybe he should have paid Robbie _not_ to rig the game. He got up, noticing Alex was shaking his head. That made him feel a whole lot worse, he had lost the trust of his coach. But that wasn't the only thing he would loose that night. He lost his scholarship to Duke, making his father angry. He didn't know why, but playing basketball after that night, didn't interest him. He had lost one of the best friends he had ever had, and his father had kicked him out of the house. He found shelter at Elaine's house. He promised himself that if he ever had a son, he would never let him make the mistake he had that night. He couldn't let his son feel as bad about himself as he had that night.

His son would be the best. Not just as a player, but he would have the best attitude as well. He wouldn't loose his scholarship like Jack had, and even if he did, Jack wouldn't kick him out of the house. Jack was determined to be a better father than his own had been, he would always be there for his son, no matter what.

**So, that was Coach Bolton's mistake, not telling Robbie to let the game just play out, fighting with Daniel Boucher and losing his scholarship. Coach Bolton did go to college, just not one like Duke, just to let you know. That is the reason Mr. Boucher doesn't like Coach Bolton, the game and the fact that they were friends and he broke his arm. Hope you liked it!**


	16. Chapter 16

**Here it is! Chapter 16!**

Troy fell into the armchair in the living room. He shut his eyes and took a deep breath, happy to be home. The phone on the table rang next to him. He opened one eye and looked at the phone. The shrill ring of the phone filled the room before he cut it off, annoyed with the sound. "Hello?"

"Troy? So, how you feeling man?" Troy smiled, it was Chad.

"Pretty good. Happy to be away from that place." Troy heard Chad's laughter on the other line.

"Hold on, I'm putting you on speaker, the guys want to talk to you. All right, say hi guys." Zeke, Jason and Ryan all said hi before Chad started to talk. "Troy, you coming to cheer us on, right? Your dad said your mom didn't want you playing."

Troy could feel his stomach sink. No matter what anyone said, his mother was determined to keep him off the court. Playing in this tournament had been what kept his spirit up in the hospital. "Yeah. Dad doesn't really want me playing either, but he's letting me come. Dr. Andrews said I could play though and you guys know I want to."

"Why isn't your mom letting you play?" Ryan asked.

"She wants me to know how to slow down my heart better before I play, just in case."

"Yeah your dad told us about that," Jason said. "How is it?"

"I haven't had to slow it down yet, but I've practiced a little. I think she's just nervous and doesn't trust the doctor. Chad, you know how she gets."

"Do you have everything packed?" Zeke asked, sensing that Troy didn't want to talk about the tournament.

"My dad packed for me last night. How was school?"

"Ugh. School was horrible, as usual."

"Chad's just mad because Darbus gave him detention," Jason said in a matter-of-fact tone.

"Staring at Taylor again?"

Troy pulled the phone away from his ear as Chad yelled, "Ryan, shut up!"

"Oh, look how mad he gets!" Troy chuckled at Ryan's excitement.

"Dude, help me. Come over here and help me beat these three," Chad said.

"I would if I could, but I'm banished to my bedroom until tomorrow, if I want to go," Troy said, wishing that he could go were his friends were.

"Do you have one of those cool bell things?"

"I wish. Do you think my dad would go for that?" He heard a tapping noise, and looked up to see Mack giving him a look. "I've got to go. Princess Mack wants to use the royal phone. See ya tomorrow." He heard a chorus of good byes before hanging up the phone.

"I didn't need to use the phone, but Mom wants you upstairs. She says that you need your rest."

Troy groaned. "I have been resting for last few days! I don't need rest!"

"Troy, she just doesn't want you collapsing again."

"I won't."

"Troy, you don't know that. If you don't sleep-"

"Mack, why does this concern you?"

"I'm your sister!" She yelled. "No matter what may be going through your head, I care about your well being. You scared me Troy. When I heard you were in the hospital, I thought I was going to lose you." She was mad that he even had to question why she cared. "I don't want that to happen again."

Troy got up from the arm chair and walked over to Mack. He pulled her into a hug, something he hadn't done in a long time. He took a deep breath before letting go and walking up the stairs and into his room.

hsmhsmhsmhsmhsm

Mack took a deep breath, knowing what she was doing wasn't the best thing she could be doing. She lifted her hand and knocked on the door, taking a step back so she wouldn't get hit by the door. Just as she did, the door opened and a kind looking woman answered. Her hair was as brown as dark chocolate and she had eyes to match. Her skin was a beautiful shade of tan and her smile lit up her face. When the woman noticed who was at the door, her smile vanished and her face contorted into a look of pure hatred.

"What are you doing here?" Her voice was harsh.

"I wanted to tell you that my family would like to apologize."

"Well, we don't want any of your apologies. Good Day, Mackenzie."

"But that's not fair. We are willing to admit that we did wrong and you turn your backs."

"Well sweetie, no matter what your brother may tell you, life isn't one of those fairy tales he stars in." She paused. "Life isn't fair. Besides your family has done enough to my family in the past, so much that apologies can no longer be accepted." The woman started to shut the door.

"Mrs. Boucher, please-"

"Bolton, I'll give you ten seconds to get off of my porch before I call the cops." This time, Mrs. Boucher slammed the door in Mack's face.

Mack turned and walked down the steps, sighing to herself. She sat on the edge of the curb, thinking. What could she do if the Boucher's didn't want apologies? She doubted Troy would want to anyway.

"Mack?"

She looked up and stared into Calum's face. He was accompanied by Teagan and Adam, who both wore a look of hate. Each of the boys held a skateboard in their arms. "What are you doing here?"

"I came to apologize, I found out what happened between our families. But your mom wouldn't hear any of it." She was starting to feel uncomfortable around Teagan and Adam. Calum sat next to her on the curb, placing his skateboard next to him.

"Calum, Adam, Teagan! Cookies!" Mrs. Boucher yelled out the window. Teagan and Adam lunged at the chance to get away from Mack and ran all the way into the house.

"How are your ribs?" Mack asked.

"They're okay, I've learned to live through the pain."

"CALUM!"

"You should go in," Mack said standing up.

"No, come on, follow me." Calum grabbed her hand and they started to run away from the house.

hsmhsmhsmhsmhsm

"Where is she?" Coach Bolton said as he paced through the living room, every once in a while looking out the window into the night sky to see if his daughter was walking up the sidewalk.

"Jack. I'm sure she's fine."

"Elaine, how can you say that? She disappeared. We don't know where she is."

Elaine looked out the window, "I'm sure she's not alone." She turned to face her husband and saw that her comment didn't help.

"If he did anything to her-"

"Jack! How could you say that about Calum? You've seen yourself that he isn't like his family. She might not even be with him."

"How could she not be? We called Bailey and Keisha's houses. Who else would she be with?"

"I'm sure nothing is wrong."

"When she gets home, I'm giving her a long talk."

Elaine turned back to the window. "Jack why don't you go check on Troy. Make sure he's all right and check his pulse if he's asleep." Jack stood up and walked up the stairs, aware that they were suppose to check on Troy in the middle of the night. Elaine sighed, thankful that Jack left. He needed to get his mind off of his missing child. "Mack, please be all right," Elaine said quietly to herself. She heard Jack's frantic footsteps running down the stairs.

Elaine turned around in a panic. "Is he all right?"

"I don't know. He's gone!"

**Tell me what you think! _Review!_**


	17. Chapter 17

**Sorry for the long wait! School's back in session, tons of homework. Hope you like it.**

Calum led Mack to the elementary school. When they arrived, he walked over to a bush and pulled out a basketball. "How did you know that was there?" Mack asked as he dribbled around.

"This?" He held up the basketball, "my brother always leaves one in that bush. You didn't know that, I thought Troy would have known..."

"I guess I never thought about it."

"You want to play? One on one," Calum said changing the subject. He passed her the ball, "ladies first."

"Well, aren't you just the gentleman today. First you ignore your friends and then you run away, how sweet," she said sarcastically. She passed the ball back, "I can't."

"What do you mean? You got Miss Junior Basketball in the newspaper. You are the best player on any 8th grade team in your league. Don't you say 'I can't!'"

"I'm wearing jeans! And the only reason I got that award was because Troy's my brother! I played three games this season."

"But that wasn't because you were bad! That collision in the second game busted your knee! You couldn't play even if you wanted too! And, you deserved Miss Junior Basketball. You made up for all your missed games in the last one." Calum pulled his shirt off, showing Mack nice abs. "So, lets play."

"Okay, but don't say I didn't warn you."

After playing for a few hours, they fell on the ground panting like dogs. It was getting dark out but, neither of them seemed to notice. Both were grinning from ear to ear.

"That was fun," Calum said between breaths.

"Yeah. But now I'm all sweaty."

"Sweaty, but beautiful," Calum said, loud enough so only he could hear it.

"What?" Mack said sitting up.

"Nothing."

Mack smiled, making Calum blush and look away. "Do you remember where we left off at my house, when Jason so rudely interrupted us?" Calum turned slowly to face her, a smile on his face but his eyebrows raised.

"Actually," he said sitting up, "I believe we were..." He pushed Mack back on the ground playfully. He leaned in putting his forehead on hers. "Right here." Before long the night sky was hanging above them and it had started to rain but they didn't notice. The couple was in the middle of a heavy make out session. Mack had flipped Calum over, and ran her hand over his abdomen. She had been wanting to do that ever since he had taken his shirt off before they played basketball.

"Mack?"

Mack jumped off Calum looked into the faces of Bailey and Keisha. "I thought something was going one between you two. But I guess more than I expected," Keisha said. Keisha's eyes had narrowed, but not as much as Bailey's had.

"Mack! What are you doing kissing him? Are you drunk or something? Your parents are worried sick, its raining, and this is the guy who threw tapioca pudding at us after Keisha's dog got hit by the car! This is the guy who called you so many insults, pushed you around, and did anything possible to make your life miserable!"

"It's not what it looks like Bailey," Calum tried. "We were playing basketball."

"I didn't think that was called basketball," Keisha said, her eyes still narrow.

"No." She looked to Calum, "we've kept this secret long enough." Mack turned to face the girls. "Calum's my boyfriend."

Bailey and Keisha's mouths dropped. "Mack, walk in a straight line," Bailey said obviously outraged.

"Guys! You know me, you know I wouldn't do something stupid like that. He's not like that anymore."

Bailey's eyes were still slits, but Keisha had stopped. "You should go home though, your dad sounded worried when he called me and that was over an hour ago," she said in a sincere voice. "Bailey lets go."

Both of the girls turned and walked away. Calum put on his soggy shirt and the two walked hand in hand toward Mack's house.

hsmhsmhsmhsmhsm

Troy opened the door to hear his father yelling at his sister. "...We had no idea where you were! You could have at least come home to tell us!" Troy shut the door and walked through the kitchen into the living room where his mother was scolding Mack. He strode over to the stairs, not looking where he was going and collided with his father who was guarding the stairs. "Where have you been Troy?"

"In my room?"

"Wrong answer."

"See ya!" Mack got up out of the seat she was in and ran over to the stairs. She climbed them two at a time, hoping that her parents would forget to punish her now that Troy came home.

Coach Bolton pointed to the chair Mack had just occupied. Troy walked over to it and sat down, aware that he was going to get yelled at.

"Oh Troy, you're soaking wet!" Elaine said grabbing the blanket off the couch and throwing it to him. Troy dried himself off before looking at his father. "Dad..."

"Troy, you deliberately disobeyed me!"

"But Dad-"

"Don't you 'but Dad' me! I don't care where you were. We told you that if you wanted to even _go _you had to stay in bed."

"Troy, your father's right. I don't want you going-"

"Mom!"

"Troy," Elaine said. "I think this is what's best for you. I don't think Kathy Danforth or Mrs. Baylor would let Chad or Zeke run away-"

"But I didn't run away! I just went to see Gabriella! I wanted to show her I was fine."

Jack sighed. "Troy you've changed and it's because of basketball and the musical. You need to take a breather."

"Your father told me about what you did to Mack."

"And I won't have anymore of that attitude under this roof, got it." Jack walked over and stood on his knees so he was level with Troy. "You weren't going to play much anyway."

"What, were you only going to put me in if we were behind?" Troy sneered.

Jack stood up. "With this new attitude, you're this," he held his thumb and forefinger apart about an inch, "close to being kicked off the regular team. I don't care if you are the best player." Troy looked down at his feet. "You change the attitude before next season, because it will be kind of hard to explain to your friends why you aren't playing."

"You wouldn't kick me off, I need to get a scholarship."

"That's why you have good grades. I'm going to go make sure Mack has her alarm set, we need to leave early."

Elaine looked into Troy's face, in his eyes she saw sadness and regret. She walked over to Jack and touched his arm. "Do you think what we're doing is right?"

"It's the only way we can change his attitude."

**I would like to thank Mufasa in the Lion King for the line: "you deliberately disobeyed me." I love that line and thought Coach Bolton was in a Mufasa type mood. Hey, hope you like it! Review! Next Chapter should be up soon, I'm working on it right now.**


	18. Chapter 18

Hope you like it! Here is Chapter 18!

Mack moved around uncomfortably in her seat on the plane, feeling out of place without Troy. She kept seeing Troy's face, begging their dad to let him go. She knew it broke her father's heart not letting Troy come, but he was convinced that what he was doing was for Troy's own good. She leaned back taking a deep breath. She looked in the seat next to her. Chad was listening to his music and bobbing his head, trying to get the fact he was in the air out of his head. She turned to look out the window, she could see their destination, Logan Airport in Boston, Massachusetts.

"We are now arriving in Boston, we will be landing in Logan International Airport very soon. Please turn off all electronic appliances and fasten your seatbelt. Thank you for flying Southwest Airlines," said the flight attendant.

Chad pressed the off button on his c-d player before taking the headphones and placing them around his neck. "I hate landing," he said.

Mack continued to stare out the window. "What's wrong?" Mack just shook her head at Chad's question. The plane started to decelerate and Chad grabbed on to the armrests until his knuckles were white.

hsmhsmhsmhsmhsm

"Chad! Get out here!"

"Coach, it's freezing!"

The team chuckled. Chad was standing inside the airport and -no time soon- was he coming out. Coach Bolton was getting frustrated. "Chad, we need to get to the hotel."

"Chad," Zeke said trying to stifle his laughter, "you're blocking traffic!"

Chad looked behind him at the mob of people behind him trying to get to another door. He threw his hands in the air, a signal of defeat. "I hate airports!" Coach Bolton chuckled as Chad put on four more sweatshirts and walked out. "Anybody got a hat?"

hsmhsmhsmhsmhsm

"Troy, you have been sitting at this table for hours!" Elaine said. Troy didn't move a muscle. "I know you're upset, but you can't spend vacation like this. Go out, have fun."

"So now I can go out? You won't take something else away from me?"

"Troy," she sat across from him. "I know you really wanted to go, but you _have_ been different lately. The first game's on tonight, why don't you go out until then."

"I'm going to take a walk." Troy stood up. He walked two blocks over by the elementary school when he heard a dribbling basketball, a missed shot and a groan. He moved closer to see Calum struggling to put the ball in the hoop. Troy watched closely, Calum was reminding him of when he couldn't make shots because Gabriella wouldn't talk to him. "Hey, kid!"

Calum turned around quickly and Troy could see the kid shake, his eyes wide. Troy motioned for him to give him the ball. Calum weakly passed the ball to Troy, who put it up easy. Troy walked closer to the shaking teen, but Calum moved backwards. "Don't worry, I wont hurt you." Calum didn't move he stayed in the same position. Memories flooded back to Troy._"You're scaring her..." "The last thing the team needs is your new attitude..." "Am I a monster?" "You're the whole reason we got into this mess! Had you not been in the hospital, Calum wouldn't have run off..." "Troy, she just doesn't want you collapsing again..." "Troy, you deliberately disobeyed me!"_

He had been a jerk. He couldn't believe he had acted like that. "Calum, right?" The boy nodded slowly. 'The least I can do is try to make things easier,' he thought. "Calum, we didn't exactly meet on good terms." Troy extended his hand, "Troy Bolton."

Calum looked from Troy's face to his outstretched hand. He reached out slowly and shook it, "Calum Boucher."

"So Calum, about your shot..."

Troy stayed with Calum helping him with his shot until sunset. He was surprised, Calum made good company for an eighth grader. "Mack's lucky she's got a brother like you," Calum said. "You should hear how she talks about you at school. You two have a really strong bond."

"Yeah," Troy said. "But, I've never seen her this happy." He turned to face the younger boy. "Just don't break her heart, okay."

"I wouldn't dream of it."

"Mack told me you want to go to East High?"

Calum smiled, "yeah."

"You want to see them play? They're on television tonight."

"Sure."

"Do you need to tell your parents?"

"Tell my parents I'm at the Bolton house? Are you crazy?" Troy gave him a look. "Okay hold on." Calum took out his cellphone and dialed home. He said he was staying out with some friends and he'd be back later. His parents didn't question him, knowing Mack was in Boston.

"Let's go, I need to get some people."

hsmhsmhsmhsmhsm

Calum sat on the couch. They had picked up Sharpay, Ryan, Gabriella, Taylor and Kelsi. Troy was getting chips from the kitchen and the game before East High's was almost over. Calum couldn't help think, 'these guys are good.' The Wildcats went out for their warm ups and announcers on the television started to talk.

"This is the first time East High has been in this tournament since 1993, right David?"

"Yes Brian, but they dominated in their league at home in Albuquerque, New Mexico and most of their players are sophomores and juniors." The camera was looking at the bench. "Coach Bolton looks as ready as ever, but his daughter looks worried."

"Yeah, I had a conversation with her before the game. Mack's like the manager of the team."

"The big question for this team is about the roster, with the sudden absence of captain Troy Bolton who had to stay home because of illness. Over to Sarah."

"Thanks David. So Chad, you've taken over as captain, do you think your team's ready?"

"Yeah, our team has been ready for a long time. As long as we keep our head in the game we'll be fine." Troy laughed as Chad flashed a smile at the camera. "Hey Troy! I know you're watching, this win is for you dude!"

"Good Luck Chad, over to you Brian."

"Thanks Sarah. I'm with assistance coach Tim Welling. Coach, you lost Bolton days before competition, what did that do to your team?"

"You can't replace Troy Bolton. He had that feel about him that could make anyone feel better. When he fell in the gym, the team was moreconcerned than I think I've ever seen them. These guys are like brothers and right now, they want to bring home a trophy for their missing brother, and I think they are going to try harder than ever to do that."

**Hope you like it. Next Chapter will have the result of the game and more! Review!**


	19. Chapter 19

**Thanks to the 8 people who reviewed! I hope you like it. Chapter 19...**

Mack laid in the bed, she couldn't fall asleep. It wasn't that the mattress was hard, or that pillows were too floppy or that comforter wasn't pink and blue. She was alone, in a big room. She had been this lonely ever since she got to Boston. It was eleven, she'd been trying to go to sleep for two hours and it just wasn't going to happen. She picked up Troy's cellphone, which he had let her take in case she needed it and dialed home.

"Hello?"

"Troy?"

"Hey Mack, I saw the games! I can't believe they won both! Pretty cool, huh." He seemed excited that she called. She could hear voices in the background. "Wait, it's got to be late in Boston. What's up."

"I can't sleep... can you sing for me?"

"Of course. What song?"

She thought for a moment. "Sound the Bugle."

"Alright," he said before he started to sing.

"Sound the bugle now

Play it just for me.

As the seasons change

Remember how I used to be.

Now I can't go on

I can't even start.

I've got nothing left

just an empty heart.

I'm a soldier

wounded so I must give up the fight.

There's nothing more for me

lead me away...

Or leave me lying here.

Sound the bugle now

Tell them I don't care.

There's not a road I know

That leads to anywhere.

Without a light, I fear that I will

Stumble in the dark.

Lay right down

Decide not to go on.

Then from on high

Somewhere in the distance.

There's a voice that calls

Remember who you are.

If you lose yourself

your courage soon will follow.

So be strong tonight

Remember who you are.

Yeah, you're a soldier now

fighting in a battle.

To be free once more

That's worth fighting for."

"Thanks Troy."

"You sleepy now?"

"Yeah, I just needed to be sung to."

"Night Macky-Moe."

"Night Big T."

hsmhsmhsmhsmhsm

"Come on Chad! You're running like molasses out there!"

"You'd think she was the coach!" Chad yelled to Jason, who laughed. The Wildcats were ahead 74-68 with 1 minute left against a team from Florida. They were good, but they weren't as good as the other Florida team they would play if they won. Zeke stole the ball and passed it to Chad, who went zooming down the court and scored a lay-up.

Chad turned to Mack and yelled, "am I running like molasses now, Squirt?"

"Get'cha head in the game, Danforth!" She yelled back with a smile.

The Florida guard shot the ball as the buzzer sounded and missed. Zeke, Chad, Jason and the other two Wildcats who had been in at the end, were surrounded by people, cheering and laughing.

"Too bad Troy had to miss this," Chad yelled over the loudness to Zeke.

"Yeah," Zeke agreed.

"Guys!"

The two turned to see Jason dodging people to get to them. "We play the Sea Lions tomorrow. Excited?"

"Yeah!" They both said in unison.

"Chad!"

Mack ran up with a huge smile on her face and her arms behind her back. "Guess what?"

"What?" Chad said playing along.

"You got a package." She passed it to him. It was a small rectangular box. "What is it?" he asked shaking it back and forth.

"Open it," Jason said.

Chad ripped the red and gold wrapping paper off of it and stared strangely at the white box he had in his hands. He opened the box and smiled. "It's Troy's jersey." He looked at Mack as he lifted up the red and white Wildcats jersey. "Is this your doing Mack? It wasn't sent by mail."

"No. Troy gave it to me right before I left, told me to give it to you if you guys got to the semi-finals. I had no idea his jersey was in there."

"There's a note," Zeke said, bending over to pick up a piece of paper. "It's addressed to the team."

"We'll read it tomorrow before the game," Jason said. "Hide his jersey, we'll make the whole thing a surprise!"

Chad stuffed Troy's jersey in his bag, and the four of them walked toward the team, who were still jumping up and down with joy.

hsmhsmhsmhsmhsm

Elaine walked into the living room. Troy had been silent since Gabriella left a few hours ago. She was starting to get nervous. No matter how many times that doctor said he would be fine, there was a little voice in the back of her head telling her that she could lose her son if she wasn't careful. She walked over to the couch to find Troy curled up in a ball, sleeping. She looked at his peaceful face and smiled. He was fine, just like the doctor said he'd be.

She put a hand on his forehead and noticed that it was a little warm. She walked back into the kitchen and grabbed an ice pack to place on his face. "That's the last thing the poor boy needs is to get sick again," she muttered to herself as she approached the couch. She checked his pulse, which was normal and pushed a lock of hair out of his face.

She sighed. Troy was growing up way too fast. In two years he'd be off to college. "If he stays alive that long," a voice in her head said.

Elaine ignored it. "Troy," she said. "I want you to listen to me." The sleeping boy answered by staying asleep. "I want you to live. Do what you want for a change instead of what everyone expects you to do. Your whole life has been pleasing others."

She stopped and looked into his face. "And, I want you to love, don't be afraid of it. I can see the way you look at Gabriella, don't lose her." She took a deep breath. "But, what I want the most, is that you not struggle. If your ever in the hospital again and you can't fight anymore, let go." Tears were streaming down her face. "I want you to be happy."

She kissed his cheek and hummed the lullaby she used to sing to him and Mack when they were younger as she took a seat in the chair across the room and turned on the television, making sure to keep an eye on Troy's sleeping form.

**So, what do you think...any suggestions, questions? I love hearing your ideas! The song was from Spirit Stallion of the Cimarron - yes the one about the horse. It is "Sound the Bugle" by Bryan Adams. I hope to hear from you and tell me how you like it! So review!**


	20. Chapter 20

**Chapter 20! Hope you like it!**

"Okay, guys," Chad said. "Today is the big game and I've got a surprise." He turned and pointed at the door. Jason and Zeke walked in, each holding something in their hands. Zeke handed the letter to Chad and Jason held up the jersey to show everyone the number.

"This arrived yesterday," Chad said. He cleared his throat and said, "February 18th," before reading the letter.

"Dear Wildcats,

It has been a privilege to play with you this year, an amazing honor. You guys are one of the best teams anyone could ask to be on. You guys are better people than most, not only do you care for each other but you care for the world around you as well as everyone on it.

I don't know if I'll be able to play with you guys again, but I know you guys will do great without me because you don't expect anything other than your best.

I want all of you to know, that you are the first people that I would tell anything to. To quote a song Mack's listening to right now, "You raise me up so I can stand on mountains. You raise me up to walk on stormy seas. I am strong when I am on your shoulders. You raise me up to more than I can be."

Chad had tears forming in his eyes, and he handed the letter to Zeke, who continued reading.

"I couldn't ask for better friends and its breaking my heart to write this. Next year, I might be on the side lines. But know that I'll cheer you on. Your my guys.

I know how scared each of you were when I fell, I could see it on all of your faces. I just wanted to tell you that I'm fine, that's not why I can't play. Apparently, I have an attitude problem, but whatever.

So, if your reading this then you made it to the semifinals. You need to keep your head in the game, all of you, because this is a team sport. I can't wait to watch you in the championship on television. Win it for yourselves because you deserve it.

See you guys,

Troy"

The room was quiet for a few minutes after Zeke finished reading. No one dared to talk. Every eye was fixed on the letter. The letter with so many possible meanings. Zeke looked at Chad, he had a look on his face. Zeke knew that look very well, it was the look that meant he was going to pretend what just happened didn't happen. He always had that look when something wasn't right.

"WHAT TEAM!" Chad shouted, trying to pretend.

"Wildcats," the team said, mumbling.

"WHAT TEAM?"

"WILDCATS!"

"Wildcats."

"GET'CHA HEAD IN THE GAME."

The team headed out the doors to the court, but Zeke and Jason held Chad back. "What are you doing. Let me go!" Chad said.

"No. We both saw that look of yours. We want to know what's wrong," Zeke said.

"Guys, did you listen to that letter?" Chad grabbed his hair. "I guess that whole thing about not playing got to me. Nothing could get Troy not to play."

"The musical did," Jason pointed out.

"But, thats different and you know it!"

"Chad how is it different?" Zeke asked.

"Because Troy wanted to be in that musical. If Troy can't do basketball, he probably can't do the musical either. If he's fine, why aren't they letting him play?"

"His attitude problem."

Chad laughed, "Troy with an attitude problem. Thats like me and an A in Darbus' class. Impossible." Chad stopped laughing. "Do you think it has anything to do with Cam Boucher?"

hsmhsmhsmhsmhsm

"Troy, sweetheart, please wake up."

Elaine watched her son's eyes flutter open and she sighed with relief. She had been trying for ten minutes for him to show any sign of waking up. Troy squinted at the bright sun light that filled the room.

"You missed the game," she said putting a hand on his forehead. He was still warm, but his fever had gone down. "They won by twelve."

Troy looked up at her. "Mom?"

"Yes?"

"Do you remember what to do?"

Elaine looked at her son. "Do you remember what I'm supposed to do?" When his mother didn't answer, he put a hand over his heart, still not comfortable to talk about his condition. Elaine put her finger on his neck to check his pulse, but immediately withdrew it. It was faster than normal. She walked over to the counter that held the procedure to slow the pulse down and walked over to her son.

hsmhsmhsmhsmhsm

"Calum? Calum, wake up."

"What?" Calum said lifting himself up in his bed to look at his older brother. He still remembered what Cam had done to him and placed a hand protectively over his sore rib cage.

"Calum, I want you to come with me." He grabbed Calum's wrist and walked toward the door. Calum was still in his pajamas. "Theres something I need to show you."

Calum didn't want to go, but he had no choice. He didn't know where Cam was taking him, and he didn't care. Cam led him to a neighborhood Calum had never been to. Calum knew it was a neighborhood where 99.9 percent of the kids went to West High. Cam pulled him through bushes into a backyard.

"Hey Captain," said a guy's voice. Calum saw eleven faces scanning him.

"This is my brother, your future captain. Calum, this is your team. They will obey your every order," Cam said.

"But I'm going to-"

"Calum, enough with the joke. Mom and Dad might buy it, but I know it's for attention. As I was saying. This is your team." Cam changed his focus to the team. "You will address him as captain, as he will be as soon as I graduate."

"But Cam..."

"Calum!"

"You're not the boss of me." Calum jerked his arm out of Cam's hand. "They are _not_ my team and they will not call me _captain_!"

Cam's look was sincere. "I'm just trying to help you. This_ is_ the right decision."

"Maybe for you. I don't want to want to be on a team with a bunch of guys who look like they'd jump off a cliff if you told them to. I'm a wildcat, I always have been." Calum turned and ran away from the yard full of his brother's brainless followers.

"CALUM!" Cam was chasing after him. Calum knew Cam would catch up, he had longer legs making him that much faster. Calum felt hands wrap around his arms and he started to struggle in his arms, hoping Cam would let him go. Cam brought the boy closer to his chest.

"Cal, I'm sorry it I hurt you that night. But, you _belong_ at West High." He turned Calum around so he faced him. Calum thrashed around making it difficult to hold on to him. "They will eat you alive at East High. You'd be like a prince at West High. You will be the outcast at East High, the kid who doesn't belong. You and Mack wont last forever, and when you go your separate ways, you wont have any friends at East High." He took a deep breath, "I'm trying to protect you."

Calum got free from Cam's grasp and glared at him. "I'm a big boy, I can protect myself." Then he turned on his heel and sprinted faster than he had ever run before.

**Hope you liked it. How was Cam's team? Tell me what you think! Review!**


	21. Chapter 21

**Thanks to all my reviewers, but special thanks to my die-hard reviewers! Thanks for all the ideas, and don't be surprised if you see your somewhere in a story, whether it be this one or one down the road. I'm happy you guys like this so much. I think I might end this one (when it's time) and start the next when Mack and Calum go to high school. Tell me what you think.**

**On to chapter 21!**

"Chad, this is for you. Front desk said to give it to you." Coach Bolton handed Chad a small envelope. All it said on the front was: Chad Danforth, East High Wildcats Basketball Team. It didn't have a stamp or return address. He turned it around and on the very bottom it said in small, familiar handwriting: Open it when everyone is gone.

Chad looked up at Coach Bolton, who had a small smile on his face that was barely visible.

"What is it Chad?"

"Yeah, open it!"

Chad stuffed it in his pocket and looked up. "Later guys, I'm hungry." The team rolled their eyes and headed out the door to get some food, none noticing Chad didn't move.

As soon as the players had left through the rotating doors of the hotel, Chad ripped the envelope open and grabbed the letter out. The note was scribbled on an index card: Turn around. Chad turned with so much force he almost fell over.

"This is a first, Chad Danforth skips breakfast. Front page by tomorrow."

Chad ran across the lobby and flew through the air before tackling his best friend. They stayed on the floor of the lobby laughing for what seemed like an eternity. The two boys stood up and dusted themselves off.

Chad was the first to speak. "You have no idea what your dad looked like when your mom called him. We were all in there and his face dropped. We thought you died!"

"Nope, still alive. Doesn't upset you too much, does it?"

They both chuckled and started to walk to the restaurant the team had gone to. "You guys put my jersey on a chair during the game?"

"Yeah, so you were there, sort of. How did vacation go without me?"

"A vacation without Chad...it was very quiet."

They were silent for a minute before Chad broke the silence. "So, what was it like?"

Troy took a deep breath. "It was pretty scary. To tell you the truth, I thought I was going to die. I just woke up and it started to go really fast." Troy looked down at his feet.

"I thought you said your parents didn't want you coming?"

"They didn't. My mom just had a sudden change of opinion. I didn't even know about it until this morning. But, I guess that's what she called about, tell Dad we were coming and about my little...incident."

"You can't play right?"

Troy shook his head, silently telling Chad that he couldn't play in the tournament. The two opened the door to the restaurant and walked inside. The team turned around to look at Troy and every single one smiled. They had been told he couldn't play, but just having him around made them feel better.

"Welcome back, Captain," Chad said smiling, happy his friend was back.

"You mean Co-Captain," Troy said. "I'm not the only captain anymore." Troy flashed Chad a grin and Chad's eyes widened. He knew exactly what Troy was getting at. Chad looked at his coach and his team, who were all nodding in approval. "When I was in the hospital, we voted for a new captain, just in case I didn't make it. We knew it would unanimous, so we just didn't tell you. We wanted it to be a surprise. Congrats!"

hsmhsmhsmhsmhsm

Troy sat in the locker room as the other guys got ready for the big game. He looked at his apparel. It was so different from his team's. He had jeans and his white wildcat jacket on. "You guys are slower than Sharpay!" Chad shouted.

Troy laughed, this was his team. Making fun of each other.

"And how would you know that Chad?"

"Oh, shut up Jason!"

"How you feeling buddy?" Troy turned his head from his team to look at his dad. Coach Bolton sat next to him. "You sure want to sit on the bench? Mack can be pretty loud."

"Yeah, she got a technical last game," one of the juniors on the team said.

"I think I can handle her."

Coach Bolton ruffled his hair and stood up. The doors to the locker room opened and a voice could be heard. "Is everyone decent in here?"

"Mack," Chad shouted to her, "everyone in here's shirtless."

Mack's face appeared, "oh, in that case." She walked in and sat on Troy's lap. "Goon."

"Troy, catch." Zeke threw Troy his jersey.

"What's this for?"

"You're still part of the team," Zeke said.

"If you want sit on our bench," Jason continued, "you're going to wear your jersey."

"Yeah, put it on Troy," Mack said smiling. "You haven't worn it for a long time."

Troy looked at the jersey apprehensively. The memory of him collapsing on the gym floor flashed before his eyes. The memory of the scariest few days of his life appeared before him. He remembered being attached to machines he had never seen and looking into the faces of people he didn't know. He remembered hearing his parents' conversation -when they had thought he had been asleep- about him. He saw his mother crying and wondering aloud why this had happened to him. But he found himself sliding out of the jacket and pulling the jersey on.

Putting the jersey on would be the first step in his healing process.

**Hope you liked it! Sorry it was so short, but I thought it needed to end like that. Next chapter the team comes back to Albuquerque, so there will be a lot more Calum. Review!**


	22. Chapter 22

**To answer some questions, I think I'm having Troy and the gang be sophomores (so they'll be juniors when Mack goes to East High), just so I have a little more time to play around with. Plus the age difference might play into the Mack-Troy sibling relationship, I'm not sure yet. All I know is that they are not seniors this year... **

**Now, on to chapter 21...**

Calum sat on the edge of the pond in the park. He was swirling the water with his pointer finger. He had been outside all night because he hadn't wanted to face his family. It was times like this he envied his friends and Mack Their families cared about them, not their image. The reason that Adam's family pushed basketball was because he needed a scholarship, badly. His family had six kids to send to college and if Adam could get any kind of scholarship, that would help. Teagan's father wanted him to do basketball so he could put it on his resume, but what he wanted more was for Teagan to make friends. He was always a quiet kid.

He turned his head and saw a young man teaching his son and daughter how to dribble a basketball. It reminded him of the Bolton's. "What would Dad have done if I was a girl?" He said quietly. Then he shook his head, "he would have never cared about me then. He doesn't think girls should play. He should see Mack play." He laughed.

"What are you doing?"

Calum turned around and almost fell in the lake. "Gabriella, I..."

Gabriella just laughed and sat next to him. "Do you need to talk?"

"How long have you been behind me?"

"Long enough," she said. "If you need to talk, I'm a good listener. You have to be if Sharpay is your friend."

"She seemed nice."

"After we tamed her, but she still likes to talk. So Calum, what's bothering you?"

"You'd think it was stupid."

Gabriella just stared at him, like she had when Troy had told her about him being "the basketball guy."

He sighed, knowing deep down he wanted to get this off his chest. "I...I wish I had a different family."

"You shouldn't say things you don't mean."

"But I do," he said standing up. "They hate me, I know they do. They can't except me for who I am because I don't fit into their perfect family! They don't understand...and they don't want to. And I don't care what you say in their defense because you don't know them and you most certainly don't live with them!" Calum turned and ran as fast as he could, almost running into the nearby tree. Little did he know, Cam had been behind the tree the whole time and heard every word his little brother said.

Gabriella shut her eyes. Taylor and Sharpay walked up behind her. "How did it go?"

"How did it go Taylor? I think I made it worse! I never knew he felt that way."

Sharpay sat down beside Gabriella. "You know that you didn't have to try and talk to him. So don't beat yourself up over it. Lets go meet the guys at the airport, their flight will be in soon."

The three girls stood up and started to walk out of park. Once they were out of sight, Cam came out from behind the tree. The words that Calum had said were finally starting to sink in.

hsmhsmhsmhsmhsm

Cam walked through the front door. His parents were sitting at the kitchen table, his mother drumming her long blue and gold fingernails. Cam looked at the clock, it was five p.m., he'd been wandering around aimlessly for four hours, ever since he heard Calum talking to Gabriella. "Has Calum come home yet?" Cam asked hesitantly. His father had been very upset the night before when Calum hadn't come home.

"No," said his mother in a soft voice. You could tell she was getting worried.

"Where is that boy!" Daniel said, almost to himself.

Cam leaned against the wall. He didn't want to tell his parents that Calum probably wasn't going to come home, but he really didn't want to tell them the reason. Maybe it was better that Calum hadn't come home.

"Do you think that, maybe, he thinks we don't love him?" Cam was shocked that he actually voiced his thoughts.

"Where would he get that idea?" Mrs. Boucher said. She had an icy look on her face. "Unless that Mack told him so."

"Mom, I don't think-"

"Cam! I thought you agreed with us. Don't tell me that you're going to become best buddies with Troy." Daniel spat out Troy's name as if it was disease.

Cam was taken back. "Dad, I-"

"Cameron! That family has done so much to us. And Mack thought she could apologize, ha!" Mrs. Boucher said.

Cam jerked his head toward his mother, a look of confusion on his face. "You mean they wanted to apologize for whatever they did and you didn't accept it?"

"Cam, there is a fine line between a mistake that you can apologize for and a mistake you can't and what Jack did is flirting with it," Daniel said.

"I don't even know what they did, but I think they've paid for it. I mean think about it, Troy was just in the hospital. They thought they were going to loose him. He couldn't play in that tournament they were in. It had to be pretty serious."

"Cameron Boucher! What have we taught you? You are going back on everything you've learned."

"Dad," Cam said. "I think enough is enough."

"If you think Troy will forgive you-"

"Everything I did to him was because of you," Cam exploded. "You told me to pick fights with him. You praised me when I hurt him badly. When I got hurt fighting you said I got hurt for the cause." Then it dawned on him. Earlier, his father had said 'what Jack did' not 'what they did.' "Were you trying to hurt Troy to get to Mr. Bolton."

**So, Cam isn't all that bad...He finally figured it out. Next Chapter the team takes their first steps back in Albuquerque and we find out if they won the whole thing or not! Review!**


	23. Chapter 23

**Hey! Thanks for the reviews. Sorry for the long wait, be had these major state wide tests this week, ugh they were horrible, not very hard but they took forever to do! I have to do them next week too, this is torture! Well, this isn't as long as I would like, but I needed to get a new chapter up. High School Musical Dance Along is tonight at 8, I can't wait! I printed the moves off of the website already! I'll be working really hard to get two more chapters up this weekend.**

**Enjoy!**

"LAND! I'm never going on an airplane again!"

The parents that were waiting at the airport laughed as Chad laid on the floor. Troy jumped over Chad, but just as he landed, Chad moved his leg and tripped Troy making him fly through the air. Chad turned his head, "thank you for flying Air Chad! That's for making fun of me at the game last night Troy."

"Chad, how could I not? That guy bounced the ball right off your head."

"I would have caught it if you hadn't been yelling at me!"

Zeke walked over to the two arguing boys. They were the best of friends, but got in fights about the littlest things. He shook his head and stuck his hand out. Troy gratefully accepted it and walked over to help Chad. He stuck his hand out and Chad reached out to grab it. Troy quickly withdrew his hand from Chad's reach, "too slow." Chad pushed off from the ground, sighing as if it was hard work. Zeke and Troy laughed at Chad's expression.

"Flight wasn't too bad," Jack said as he approached the parents.

"If you think Chad screaming not bad," Mack said from behind him.

"I feel bad for the poor lady next to you," Jason said to Chad.

"Poor lady next to him! What about me! At least _she _had earplugs," Mack yelled. Jack placed a hand on her shoulder and gave her a look. She smiled, knowing she was making a scene. The boys laughed.

Jack smiled. "We hit some turbulence entering New Mexico," he said to the parents.

"Some turbulence?" Chad shouted. "The plane almost crashed!"

Mack raised an eyebrow. "Chad, you were shaking, that's what made it seem like we were going to crash."

"So seniors I'll see you on Monday for all-star practice." Jack said, not wanting to hold up the families any longer. He looked around, "anyone seen Troy?"

Mack scanned the airport. She elbowed her father and pointed to one of the chairs. Troy had found Gabriella and they were showing public displays of affection. Mack stuck her tongue out and made a face of disgust. Then she started to gag herself. Jack shook his head and looked around. Many members of his team were talking to their parents or girlfriends.

"He was gone for three days, he couldn't have missed her _that_ much," Mack said. "I'm going to go help mom get the luggage."

"I'll meet you down there," Jack said. "I'll get Troy."

"Good luck!" Mack said laughing. "Your gonna need it!"

hsmhsmhsmhsmhsm

"No Cam, I wasn't. The problems between Jack and I are strictly between adults."

"How can you say that!" Cam said. "You're lying to me, but then again you probably always have."

"Cam, you have to understand. I wanted what was best for you and your brother, and sometimes that meant screwing around with a Bolton." Cam opened his mouth but his father cut him off, "do you understand?"

"I don't understand why your lying to me," he growled. "Especially when I already know the truth. I heard Calum talking to Troy's girlfriend today-"

"He what!"

"Let me finish!" Cam yelled. "He said that we don't understand him and that we didn't want to learn how to, because he didn't fit into this perfect family! I been thinking and I understand him perfectly now, and I'm going to go find him and tell him not to come back."

"Cam..."

"Because if you really wanted him back so much, you would have went looking for him a long time ago. He's been missing for 48 hours."

Mr. and Mrs. Boucher's faces fell. Cam turned on his heal and walked out of the room. Just as he opened the front door, Mrs. Boucher asked, "where are you going?"

"Why would you care?" The door slammed shut.

hsmhsmhsmhsmhsm

Calum was sitting at the top of the slide when he saw Mack. Her hair was in French braids with red and white ribbons tying the ends. She spotted him and walked up the wooden stairs that led to the big red slide. "I thought you might be here," she said in a soft voice.

"How did they do?" Calum asked.

"They lost by 2 in overtime. They're okay with it though. Second place really isn't that bad. How was vacation here?"

"I played a little basketball with your brother."

"Really?"

Calum turned toward her and smiled at her expression. He nodded his head.

"Is that it?"

He nodded, deciding against telling her about him not going home. He didn't want her involved, it wasn't that important. She laid her head on his shoulder and shut her eyes. "I missed you," she said.

He rested his chin on her head. "Me too, Mack. Me too."

**So...what do you think? **

**Remember that its on tonight, Friday at 8pm on Disney Channel! This is going to be great! **


	24. Chapter 24

**Hey thanks for the reviews! A few of you had some questions, so I'm going to answer them.**

_**Monica7725: I pronounce it Cal-um, but I guess you could pronounce it either way.**_

_**Retasuika: No, the Boucher's aren't in the movie, I made them up to suit the purpose of the story, kind of like Mack isn't real.**_

_**Tolazytologinrightnow: They aren't seniors, Coach Bolton was talking to the seniors on the team. The all-star games is for the seniors only, so Troy and the guys would be in it next year. He was about to leave then he noticed that Troy was gone, so he asked the team if they knew where he might be.**_

**I was thinking about their ages and decided that in this story, they are juniors, so ignore anything in previous chapters that might suggest that they are either older or younger, because I wasn't quite sure then. They are juniors this year, so they'll be seniors next year.**

**So, on to the story!**

"Please check the lobby for new activities, Mr. Bolton," Ms. Darbus said with a small smile. Troy turned around in his seat to face front. Ms. Darbus' attitude toward him had changed tremendously. Chad patted him on the back, "remember, she's due on the mother ship anytime." Troy laughed as the bell rang and the students filed out of the room toward their next class.

"So dude, it's science, Darbus, free period, lunch and...what did we pick for..." Chad looked at his schedule before he started yelling. "ZEKE! I AM NOT TAKING HOME EC!"

Troy started to laugh as Chad found out what his new related arts class was. "Your taking it too," Chad said looking at Troy's schedule. "What?" Troy said. "Zeke, how could you!"

"I thought you said you said you signed up for something good," Jason said.

"I did, it is so much fun! I took it last year," Zeke said excitedly. Chad's face dropped, Jason's eyes widened and Troy looked amused. "Oh, come on guys, it's not that bad. I mean, I could have signed you up for creative writing with Darbus."

"I think I would have enjoyed that more," Chad muttered to Troy as they walked toward the science room. When they approached the door Chad halted, making the three boys behind him, run into each other. "Do I have to go?" Chad whined. "Can I skip?"

"You could skip," Troy said, "except for the fact that the teacher gave you a ride to school this morning."

Zeke, Jason and Troy pushed Chad through the door and into his seat. Mr. Bolton watched this and laughed, this happened everyday.

"I just know that I failed this test," Chad said. "Coach, can I retake it now?"

"Chad, how do you know that you need to retake it?"

"Because I have failed every single test you have given me this year," Chad said confidently.

"What does that tell you Chad?" Mr. Bolton said.

"But I do study! I studied with Troy, Jason and Zeke because they pass." Mr. Bolton shook his head. "I studied really hard for this test, but I know I bombed it, because I always bomb it."

"You might be surprised," Jack said as he passed out the tests. Chad looked at his in disbelief before his shouted, "I got a B! Yes!" Chad started to walk around the room, finding out other peoples grades. "I did better than you!" "I did way better than you!" "I got the same grade you did and you're on the scholastic decathlon team!"

He walked back to his chair and looked at Jason's paper, "how did you manage to get 100! Troy didn't even get 100, and he's the teacher's kid!"

"Science is my passion," Jason said, imitating the hip-hop girl in the cafeteria. Both broke out into a fit of laughter.

hsmhsmhsmhsmhsm

"Welcome to Home Economics," the teacher said in a voice that sounded way too sweet. "When I call your name please say here. Zeke."

"Here."

"Welcome back. Troy," she said.

Troy, who had been in a conversation with Jason, replied with, "what?"

She sighed and moved down the list. She called 3 names before, "Chad Danforth." There was silence. "Chad, is he here today?" Troy turned around, in the chair behind him, Chad had fallen asleep. Troy nudged him and he looked around. "I'm in my nightmare," he screamed finding out he was in the home economics room. The girls all laughed at him.

"No Chad, this is real," Jason said.

"No, but, in my dream...Zeke signed us up for...oh no. Well, at least I still have that B."

hsmhsmhsmhsmhsm

"So, Mack are you going to shadow your brother?" Bailey asked as they sat down at their lunch table. She opened her light blue lunch box and took out her thermos filled with soup. "Cause, if you are, we could all shadow one of his friends and walk around with them all day."

"I don't know, I might shadow Gabriella, she has a more interesting schedule."

"She has a smart schedule," Keisha said, biting into her salami sandwich. "I still don't get the point of shadowing. You walk around with a person older than you for a day, big whoop."

"It's to see the difference between middle school and high school," Bailey said.

"And to skip school," Mack said. "That's why I'm doing it." A few more girls came over and sat with them and they stopped talking about shadowing.

Across the room, Calum was explaining his vacation to Teagan and Adam. "So your telling me," Adam said, "that Bolton has changed your mind so much about everything, that you got your parents so mad at you, your dad kicked you out."

"Until I see 'their way' again."

"So where does Cam fit into it?" Teagan asked.

"He's on my side."

Adam's eyes widened. "Wow, never would have saw that coming."

"You're still going to East High right," Teagan asked.

"Oh, yeah. My parents can't force me to go anywhere and that includes West High." Calum said. He wasn't all that hungry so all he had was a drink.

"Where have you been staying?" Adam asked.

"I was on Mack's couch last night. I did sleep outside for two nights though. It wasn't very comfortable," he said.

"Why didn't you come to my house?" Teagan said outraged. "My dad would have let you sleep in our guess room."

"I didn't think you guys liked me anymore, because of the whole Mack situation."

"I've been thinking about that," Adam said. "The only reason that we hated her and wanted to go to West High was because you did. We were like followers and when you changed your mind, we blew it out of proportion. I mean, if you really like her, then we should encourage it."

"Yeah," Teagan said. "If you want to go to East High, who are we to stop you? We've been really jerky friends. So if you want to go to East High, then we do too."

**How did you like it. I just always pictured Coach Bolton as a subject teacher, not a gym teacher. Tell me what you think. Review!**


	25. Chapter 25

_**Sh0rty- I play the clarinet too! I'm not very good, but hey, I can play!**_

_**Monica7725- Yes, Troy is allowed to, my friend's dad is the math teacher at our school and she has him this year.**_

**Thanks for reviewing! Here is Chapter 25!**

"Bye Mack, we'll see you tomorrow!" Keisha said as she and Bailey started to walk away from the school. Mack waved back to them and started to look for someone to walk home with. Calum had a basketball meeting and her friends lived in the other direction. "Macky-Moe are you going to make me wait all day?"

Mack turned around to see Troy leaning up against a tree. She ran up to her brother, who had his arms crossed over his chest and a smile on his face. "Why do you insist on calling me that?"

"Gabriella thinks its so cute," he said, "and its a habit."

She shoved him playfully. He grabbed her backpack and looked at it. It said, "Wildcats Basketball Bolton" in a circle and in the middle was 14. "Isn't this mine?"

"Maybe," she said.

He put the bag on his shoulders before grabbing her and flipping her upside down. "Hey, put me down!" She yelled. He started to walk home with her hanging upside down by her ankles. When the blood had rushed to her head, he put her back on the ground.

"You are so mean," she said laughing.

"Oh really?"

She stopped walking and stared up at him. She couldn't help but remember that this was what her old Troy acted like. The Troy before Gabriella, the Troy before the musical, the Troy before he collapsed. He kept on walking and noticed that she wasn't walking next to him. He turned around. "What's wrong?" he asked.

"Nothing," she said walking up to him. She hugged him and took a deep breath in. Her eyes were closed and she could smell him. The perfect mix of basketball and teenager.

"What are you doing?" He asked. "Memorizing my scent."

She looked up at him and smiled. "No," she said. "I don't need to memorize it, because I'd know it anywhere." He gave her one of his looks that he gave her when he thought she was a little bit crazy, but she didn't care. She remembered the old Troy used to give her these looks all the time, but not because he actually though she was crazy, but because they made her laugh. "I'll race you back to the house," she said.

"Okay, I'll give you a head start," he said confidently. "Because you're going to need one."

"Yeah right," Mack said as she began to run to the house. She could feel Troy right behind her. She ran up to the front door and touched it first. "Ha!" She turned to face Troy who was on the front lawn. He was leaning over with his hands on his bent knees. "Troy, are you okay?" When he didn't answer, she began to get worried and ran over to him. "Troy?"

He looked up at her and noticed her worried face. "Don't worry Mack," he said trying to comfort her. "I'm fine." Now it was her turn to give Troy a funny look. "I just needed to slow down my heart beat, okay."

"Was that because of me?" she asked guiltily.

"No, I felt it before we started running. It comes and it goes, okay," he told her. "Lets go get some ice cream, would you like that?"

She crossed her arms across chest, like Troy had done earlier. "That won't happen again will it?"

"I know it scared you, but I'm okay," he said. "Come on, Chad and the guys will be there. I know you want to go." She still looked skeptical. "Mack, if it does happen, will come right home, I promise."

"Okay, lets go." She smiled as she began walking down the sidewalk. "But, you're paying."

"As long as you don't order three hot fudge sundaes, I'm okay with that."

Mack snickered at the memory. It had been when Troy was a freshman and she had been mad at him, so when he tried to make it up to her, she had ordered three sundaes, with everything on them.

"Bolton!"

Mack and Troy looked around. Troy's eyes immediately narrowed and he pushed Mack behind him. "What do you want Boucher?"

"I heard about your heart-"

"And I don't need your pity," Troy interrupted. "I'm fine. But I'd rather you leave."

"It's a public sidewalk," Cam sneered. He slowly stuck out his hand, as if it were the hardest thing he had ever done. "I wanted to say I was sorry."

"What?"

"Yeah Bolton, I said I'm sorry for every single thing I ever did to you." Mack was shocked at how sincere Cam's voice sounded. 'Either he's really sorry,' Mack thought. 'Or he should be in Hollywood.'

Troy stared at Cam's outstretched hand. "Why the sudden change of heart?"

"Calum." At this point he was looking at Mack, who had her head sticking from behind Troy. "He changed my views, I guess. He made me think." He looked away from Mack to look at Troy. "My dad always said to hurt you so I did. I'm not listening to him anymore. Truce?"

Troy stared at the hand for a few minutes before shaking it. "Except on the court."

Both boys laughed as they let their hands swing back to their sides. "I never thought you'd forgive me. Why did you, I did so many rotten things to you," Cam said.

"My dad told me that if a man's strong enough to admit his faults, then you should show the same strength and forgive him." Troy paused, "and the fact that everything you did, I retaliated against."

"Nice," Cam said. He turned and strode away, satisfied with forgiveness. Mack walked out from beside Troy and stood next to him. Troy looked at her.

"So, about that ice cream..." Mack smiled and punched him lightly on the arm. He threw her over his shoulders and they started to walk down the sidewalk.

**Tell me what you think!**

**Review!**


	26. Chapter 26

**Hope you like it! Here's Chapter 26!**

As Troy and Mack walked up to Chad, Zeke, Ryan and Jason, they heard the last bit of their conversation.

"So, tonight..."

"Yeah, we'll make them wish they never knew us!"

"Who?" Troy asked. All four turned their heads immediately. Ryan opened his mouth to say something, but it never came out because Chad gave him a glare.

"No one Troy," Chad said looking between Troy and Mack. "Absolutely no one."

"Mack, why don't you go get something," Troy said. He handed Mack some money and pushed her toward the building. Mack started to walk to the building, but when she saw that Troy was no longer watching her, went behind a tree.

"So, Troy, we still on for tonight?" Jason asked once they thought Mack was gone.

"About that guys..." Troy said, but Chad interrupted him. "What do you mean?"

Troy sighed. "Are you sure we can't get caught? I mean, if I get caught, my dad will kill me, bury me, dig me up and kill me again."

"Positive," Ryan said. "Sharpay, Gabriella and Taylor helped us plan it."

"When they didn't know what it was going to be used for."

"Troy! Stop," Chad said. "We can't get caught, but why did you bring Mack? She's the one who you should be worried about."

"I know, I'm going to drop her off before we go. Can we think this over more before we do it?"

"What's there to think over," Zeke said. "Its the perfect plan."

"I'll come, but I'm not doing anything. My dad's watching my every move as it is."

"Oh, come on Troy! Don't you want revenge?" Ryan asked. Mack suddenly knew what was happening. They were going to do something to West High. She got up quietly and ran in the other direction toward East High, where she knew her dad was.

The run wasn't that far, but she had to cross multiple streets, which took up a lot of her time. When she got to the school she ran up 3 flights of student infested stairs and turned right. She slowed down to a jog when she approached her father's room. She burst through his door out of breath, interrupting a meeting.

"Dad!"

"Mack, what are you doing here? Are you okay? Is it Troy?" He stood from his seat and the other science teachers put on worried looks.

"He's gonna do something. I heard them talking about it-"

"Whose them?" Coach Bolton interrupted.

"Chad, Zeke, Jason, Troy and Ryan-"

"Where did you see them? I told Troy to pick you up from school, did they come too?"

Mack's face dropped and heart shattered. "You told Troy..." she said, more to herself than to her father. She had thought that he came on his own free will, like he had when they were younger. She thought that Troy had come to be with her, not because their father told them too.

"Yeah, I didn't want him hanging around the school. So what's so important that you had to interrupt my meeting for?"

Mack stared down at her shoes, suddenly very fascinated how they had stayed so white since September. At the moment she cared more about what they were going to do, then what happened to Troy. "They're gonna do something to West High. I don't know what, but I know they are. They were talking about revenge or something..."

"Jack," one of the science teachers said. "You take her, we'll finish the meeting and I'll talk to you tomorrow."

Coach Bolton led Mack out of the room and down to the car. He sat her down in the passenger's seat and walked around to the drivers side. After he sat down, he looked over at her and said, "okay Mack, tell me everything, from the very beginning."

hsmhsmhsmhsmhsm

"Okay guys, I think that's enough," Troy said, his voice quivering.

"Troy, calm down," Chad said from a ladder. "We're just doing to them, what they did to us last year."

"Then why are sinking to their level?" Troy asked.

"We're not, this has been going on for years! Hand me the paintbrush, will you Troy?" Jason asked.

"No, you get your own paintbrush. Maybe we should leave now, before somebody comes. I think you have done enough."

"I think you've been hanging around with Gabriella too much," Chad said, "all her rule following has gone to your head. Three months ago, you would have done this without a second thought."

"A lot has happened in three months. I mean, this isn't a winner's attitude, destroying another team's gym..." he changed his voice, "oh look at the time, I've got to go to rehearsal, see ya."

"You don't have play practice until 4:30. We know your schedule."

"I have to go over the stuff with Darbus that I missed when I was out," Troy lied as he walked toward the door of the gym. He stopped mid step when he saw Cam and his team standing in the doorway.

"What are guys doing?" Cam asked, his face suddenly stricken with anger and he turned to Troy. "This is what you do to someone who apologized to you? My dad was right all along, you are heartless. Oh, wait," Cam said as if he was mistaken, "your heart just doesn't work." The Knights laughed at their captain's joke.

Cam walked over to Troy and looked straight into his eyes, "heart stopped beating today Troy, because you're acting like a ghoul."

"No, but I can't believe I was so stupid to think you actually had the heart to apologize. My heart might not work right, but your's would make the Grinch feel sorry for you." The Wildcats, who had walked up behind Troy, cheered appropriately.

"I can not_ believe_ I felt sorry for you for one minute. You deserved every single thing that happened to you." Cam looked outraged, "you almost died and you didn't change one thing about you. I'm thinking that that little incident was suppose to kill you, not put you in the hospital for a couple days. You are so ungrateful."

Troy's hands were in fists and his knuckles were pure white. This time, Troy threw the first punch.

**In case you forgot, the last time Cam and Troy fought, Cam threw the first punch.**

**Tell me what you think. Review!**


	27. Chapter 27

**Thanks to all who reviewed. Chapter 27!**

Mack and Coach Bolton walked into the West High gym to see a team on team fight. Everyone was so bloody and bruised, Coach Bolton could hardly tell his players from the Knights. "Hey, break it up guys! Break it up!" He started to pull players off of players and push them to the sides of the gym. At the very bottom of the pile of fighting basketball players were Troy and Cam, looking as awful as ever. Both boys were even more bruised and bloody then their teammates.

"Stop it!" Mack yelled at the two teenagers, from behind her dad. Troy and Cam reluctantly stopped fighting, but still held the looks of hatred on their faces. Coach Bolton grabbed Troy by the arm and pulled him up and off of Cam.

Mack looked around. The team she had learned to love like brothers looked horrible and unusual with their bruises and bleeding cuts. It looked as if everyone of the team did their fair share, even Ryan which made her laugh. But she stopped chuckling when she looked at Troy. He looked natural with the blood streaming out of his nose and mouth. The coach pushed Troy toward the door, making the injured boy moan and almost fall over.

"If you can fight Troy, you can walk to the car," Jack said in an angry tone. He turned his attention to the team. "Come on, everyone out." Mack watched as he gave the hardest glares to the kids that were like his sons, Chad, Jason and Zeke, making them feel even worse about what their little act of revenge.

Once they were outside in the parking lot, Coach Bolton's calmness was soon forgotten. "I am very disappointed in you boys. No only did you break into another gym and try to destroy it, but you got yourselves hurt! I thought you would have had more brains than that!"

"The fight wasn't our fault, Coach," Chad said in a whisper.

"Then whose fault was it?"

"Cam Boucher," Jason answered for Chad.

"It was your faults, every single one of you! He walked in on you ruining his gym!"

"But Dad," Troy interrupted.

"I don't want to hear anything from you Troy, you'll have plenty of time to speak at home! Go get in the car!" Troy hung his head and walked very slowly toward the car. "Don't you get blood on my seat either!"

He turned to his team and shook his head. Every member had been there except the two seniors, who were practicing for the North vs. South all-star game. He looked every boy in the face before finally speaking. "I should kick each and every one of you off the team, but I'm not going to. You guys are better than that and I know how sorry you are, but I want it in writing. Five paragraph essay, on my desk by 2:30 tomorrow afternoon, on why what you did was wrong. I'll see you tomorrow."

All the boys walked off in the direction of their homes, knowing that they shouldn't make their coach even angrier. They all knew that they had gotten the easy sentence. Troy was going to get yelled at harder than anyone of them, and he hadn't even wanted to really be there.

Once he had seen that all the boys were well on their way home, Jack turned to look at his car. Troy was sitting in the front seat, sucking on his shirt to make the bleeding in his mouth stop. Mack was rummaging through the back to find any scrap of cloth that Troy could use to clot the bleeding until they got home. Jack walked a little quicker to the car than he normally would. He opened the door and sat in the drivers seat before taking a good look at his son. His nose was still bleeding and Jack had a feeling it might have been broken. His blue and white striped button up shirt was covered with red blotches. Troy had unbuttoned it to stick part of it in his mouth, showing a white undershirt that was no longer white but a bright red color. Jack could tell that Troy was having trouble breathing because of the shirt and his nose, he was taking long, labored breaths. He touched Troy abdomen and pulled back immediately when he winced. Jack was sure most of his ribs were broken.

Troy took the shirt out of his mouth and -although the bleeding hadn't stopped- said, "I'm sorry, Dad."

Jack sighed as he started the car. He didn't know what he felt. He felt disappointed in Troy's actions and worried because of the shape he was in.

"I know Buddy," he said, ruffling Troy's hair very gently. They pulled in the driveway and the coach looked at his son. "Lets go get you cleaned up." They both got out of the car, leaving Mack to silently take everything in.

hsmhsmhsmhsmhsm

"Cam what happened to you?" Karen Boucher said as Cam walked through the door. She and Daniel walked over to the limping boy, completely forgetting about the boy they had just been punishing. Calum wasn't going to come home, he was going to stay at Teagan's, until his father came to pick him up from the meeting. Since he had gotten home, the only thing they had done was scream and yell at him, occasionally slapping him for being 'so stupid.'

"It's nothing," Cam said as he collapsed into a chair. "Bolton and I just got in a fight, that's all."

Mrs. Boucher ran to get water, ice and towels to clean him up, but Mr. Boucher stayed in the same spot, his concerned face changed and he now held a smug look.

"I told you he'd never forgive you. I told you he was heartless, but no, you didn't believe me. Do you believe me now Cam? Bolton's think of themselves, and only themselves." He let out a disgusted sound. "Ugh, look at you! Bolton did a great job," he slid his hand fiercely down a deep gash in Cam's face, making him whimper.

"Was that a whimper? You're worthless," he said, shoving his blood-covered hand in Cam's face. "Good for nothing imbecile! I bet Bolton came back unscathed. Do you know what that means Cam?"

Cam was about to answer when his father interrupted him, "no, you don't because you're too stupid to have known that!"

"Here we go Cam, let's clean you up," Mrs. Boucher said coming back into the room. Calum could tell that she had heard their father, but was denying he ever said that, because that's what she always did. He hopped off the chair unnoticed by his mother and father, but he felt Cam's eyes on him the entire way up the stairs.

**Not my favorite, but it had to be done so we can hear what happens after. Tell me what you think! **

**Oh, and I like the ideas you've given me! They're awesome, look out for some of them in later chapters!**

Review!


	28. Chapter 28

**Here is Chapter 28! Here we go!**

Mack paced back and forth in the waiting room. She had gotten to know it very well lately. She knew every tile, every corner, were the emergency room doors were located... she could walk around it in with her eyes shut. She hadn't been in the car alone for 5 minutes before her mom had ushered Troy back in the car, muttering words under her breath.

Words like internal bleeding.

Now she was in the waiting room, again. Troy had managed a lot in the past few weeks to get landed in the hospital. Mack didn't see how he could do that, he'd never been in the hospital before that she could remember. She sunk against a chair. Her dad was right, the chairs were uncomfortable.

She looked around the waiting room. There were kids with broken limbs, adults talking on cellphones holding their children's sticky hands as they tried to play with the pennies and dimes in their noses, elderly people were watching soap operas, and a couple of teenagers with cuts and scraps stood wanting to find out information on their friend who was in a car crash.

And the only thing she could think about was how stupid her brother was.

She watched as the kids were x-rayed and sent home in brightly colored casts, the adults walked out with cellphones still attached to their ears -although the pennies were out of their kid's nose- chatting away and the elderly were given rooms. She sat stone still as the doctor walked out and told the teenagers the worst news they could possibly imagine. As she looked, she remembered Troy and stood up.

"I'm taking a walk," she said to her mother.

"I'll come and find you if we hear anything." Her mother's voice was distant, but Mack shook it off. It was always distant when Troy was in the hospital.

She hated how natural those words felt to her. Troy was in the hospital, they seemed like peas in a pod. Like it was just normal for Troy to be in the hospital, like he had some horrible ailment that sent him there and any minute he could die.

But, she knew deep down that if Troy was going to die young, it wasn't going to be from some bad sickness that you immediately think when you hear some 16 almost 17-year-old's heart stopped beating. It was going to be his inability to control his actions around Cam Boucher and Cam's attitude that would be the death of her brother. Amazingly, she said that in her head calmly. She was predicting how her brother would die for fun. 'There must be something wrong with me,' she thought.

She stopped in front of a door, the door to the hospital's church. She wasn't religious, her life was fill with too much basketball to be religious. She opened the door and heard someone talking in a different language. Interested, she walked through the door and sat in the last pew. The woman kept talking in the foreign language that sounded so familiar to her. She only took Spanish, and this most defiantly wasn't Spanish.

But, then again, how would she know? She had a D+ in Spanish.

The woman stood and turned around. Seeing Mack she said, "oh, I'm sorry. Did you come here to be alone?"

"No, no," Mack said not wanting to make the lady feel bad. "I just needed to get out of that waiting room."

The woman sat next to her. She had silver hair tied back and wore a green shirt with blue skirt. "You know, it helps if you talk about it. I'm very good at listening."

"I don't know, it's not that bad. He's been in the hospital before."

"Brother?"

Mack's eyes widened. "How did you know?"

The woman smiled. "It's a gift." She paused, "so, what's wrong with him this time?"

"He was being stupid." When the lady didn't answer she continued, "he got in a fight."

The woman nodded and then smiled, "he'll be fine." She stood and opened the door. She looked back at Mack one more time, "he'll be okay," before walking out the door. The door closed shut leaving Mack alone in the large room.

"Is that suppose to mean something?" she asked.

The door opened again, but Mack didn't hear it. She was trying to figure out what had just happened.

"Mack," a voice said. She turned to see Calum. "What are you doing here?"

"Troy's in the hospital...again. What are you doing here?"

"My mom wanted to bring Cam in, she couldn't stop the bleeding."

"Oh," was all Mack could say. Calum sat next to her in the pew, "you know, they'll probably be out in a few days. It can't be that bad."

"I don't know, internal bleeding is pretty bad," Mack said rather coldly.

"Troy had internal bleeding?"

"Yep. By the time we got him here he was coughing up blood. But, of course, he's probably lost too much blood anyway."

Calum stayed silent, not wanting to say anything that could make Mack upset. Such as Cam had started to cough up blood too...or how his own arm was broken by his dad...

"They apologized!" She stood up and threw he arms in the air. "I was there! They shook hands and then Troy went and ruined it! I hate him, he's so stupid! Sometimes I want him to die!"

"Don't say that," Calum said standing up next to her. "Never ever say that. It is the worst feeling in the world to wish death upon someone and have it actually happen."

"How would you know?" Mack sneered.

"Remember how I threw pudding at you second grade, right after Keisha's dog got hit by that car? I was jealous. I had yelled at my dog, told him to die because he bit me, then he got run over by a car. I hated how she got to keep her dog and I didn't. I blamed myself." He took a quick breath. "Never say you want your brother dead, especially when he's in the hospital's emergency room, Mack!"

Mack sat back down on the pew. Calum sat next to her and noticed she had silent tears rolling down her face. "I'm scared Calum."

She laid her head on Calum's shoulder and he wrapped his arms around her, not wanting to let her go. "Me too," he said. "Me too."

**Hope you liked it! Tell me what you think!**


	29. Chapter 29

**Chapter 29! Yeah almost 30!**

Jack Bolton sat in the same uncomfortable hospital waiting room seat as he had when Troy collapsed. He looked around the waiting room, and was not surprised to see different faces. The family that had been there last time was not there.

Personally, he had never hated waiting rooms. As a child he had always loved being around the hospital because there was so much commotion. He loved the sound of ambulances and their bright flashing lights. But, this was making him regret he had ever liked hospitals at all.

He shut his eyes and saw Troy in the back seat of his car, laying down holding his stomach as blood rushed out of his mouth. He had had so much trouble keeping his eyes on the road. He had just wanted to go into the back seat and be with Troy, making sure he was okay.

Jack just didn't understand how he had gone from a little blood spitting out of the cracks between his upper and lower lips to that horrible red substance gushing out of his mouth and nose. The coughing had made it that much harder for Jack to focus on the road.

He opened his eyes and looked at the ceiling. He kept seeing Troy's smiling face. Right now, Troy had Jack more scared than he had ever been. By the time they had gotten to the hospital, Troy had gone from bad to worse, and Jack had carried the light boy through the emergency room doors. Troy had been so out of it that he hadn't objected.

"You again?"

Jack looked to where the voice had spoken. He was looking at the lady who had made him feel better last time he had been there. The lady Dr. Andrews had called Mrs. Quinn. Without knowing, Jack nodded his head slowly.

"Your boy," She said in her rich accent. Jack didn't know what accent it was, but it was soothing. He nodded dumbly, as if it was the only thing that could function.

The woman sat next to him and he turned his head. He looked into her bright blue pools that reminded him so much of Mack and Troy. He saw in her eyes compassion and sympathy. "I know what it feels like to be sitting in that chair," she said. "My son, boy of 18, bright as could be, going to college. One day he collapse, we don't know what's wrong with him. We take him here and they tell us there is something wrong with him. How could there be, I said, he's perfectly normal. They tell me _it happens_. Two days later he gone. The one thing I wish I done different, was to spend more time with him." Mrs. Quinn paused, letting her words sink in.

"Jack!"

Jack looked toward his wife, who was standing with a doctor with black hair. He looked back at the chair Mrs. Quinn had been sitting in, but she wasn't there anymore. She had left as mysteriously as last time. He stood and walked toward the doctor and Elaine.

"Follow me," the doctor said leading them down a hall.

hsmhsmhsmhsmhsm

Karen Boucher walked down the halls of the hospital in search of her son. Her face resembled that of a pug, her lips curled and her nose made her look like she had just got a whiff of something disgusting. Her arms were cross and her high heels made an annoying sound on the floor. Her fingernails were still that awful blue and gold and her eyes were giving any happy family a glare.

She didn't remember when everything had started to go wrong. Calum had always been her baby. Cam had gone off with his father, but Calum stayed behind. Cam had been the trouble maker. But Calum...he was hers and she had let Daniel fool around with her baby for too long.

She pressed the down button on the elevator and it opened instantaneously. She walked in and started to tap her shoe impatiently, remembering what had just happened.

"_Daniel," Karen said. "Have you seen Calum?"_

_Daniel's nose scrunched. "Calum? I don't care about Calum anymore, he's not worth my effort. You'd be wise to forget about him too. He's no Boucher!"_

"_What are talking about? I want him to get his arm checked out, I don't know how he could have hurt it, but it can barely move."_

_Daniel smiled. "He deserved it." Karen blinked quickly. "You didn't break it, did you Daniel?"_

_He laughed and that was all the evidence she needed._

She got off on the third floor and wandered down halls. She opened the first door that she came to that was not a hospital room and found herself in the church. She looked into the pews and saw Calum, his head on the side and Mack resting on his chest. She walked over to them and noticed they were sleeping and sighed. She had agreed with Daniel, she had said that Mack was a bad influence on her son. She knew that Calum was upset with her, deep down he had to be. She had been trying to convince herself that what Daniel said was right, even though she knew he was wrong.

The only reason why she hated the Bolton's where that they were so happy, yet in the beginning, they had lost everything. Jack had lost his scholarship, his family, they had almost lost their son.

She had stayed fairly good friends with Kathy and Elaine, even though she went to West High. She remained in contact with them even though she had been told by Daniel to cut off any ties she had with them. She had wore a deep purple dress when she was Elaine's bride's maid and had wore a soft yellow one when Kathy became Mrs. Christopher Danforth. She had bought cute pink outfits for Kathy's daughter Emma and blue sports themed ones for baby Chad. She had been there when Elaine said she was having a boy and when the baby was premature. She had been the first one of Elaine's friends to hold the tiny baby Troy and seen his toothless grin.

Once Cam was born, Daniel decided that the time was up and she was to forget they existed and when Calum was born, he tried to convince her that they were bad people...and she had believed him.

She looked down at her sleeping son. Her eyes moved to his swollen wrist which was resting carelessly on Mack's stomach. She focused her eyes onto his face, which had healed nicely since his fight with Cam. She pushed his hair aside and kissed his forehead.

She looked at Mack, and laughed inwardly. She was amazed at how much she looked like Troy. And – although she couldn't see them- she knew that she had his eyes. She remembered laughing with Kathy and Elaine, wondering where Troy had gotten his beautiful blue eyes, because Elaine, Jack and most of their family had big brown eyes. She touched Mack's cheek and sighed. Maybe the Bolton's weren't meant for a walk in the park, and that's what made them so understanding.

She let her hand swing by her side, before sitting in the pew in front of them, to wait until they woke up.

**If you remember from Her Fault Chad had a sister, she said one line. I decided for her to make another appearance in this chapter. It was mostly thoughts. It was a nice change to write from Mrs. Boucher (Karen)'s point of view. The part with her was a little look into the past. I just decided to make Troy a premature baby so it would fit with: "The only reason why she hated the Bolton's where that they were so happy, yet in the beginning, they had lost everything. Jack had lost his scholarship, his family, they had almost lost their son." **

**My cousin's a preemie, she wasn't that early but she was still pretty early and small. Troy was really early, and when nothing bad happened to him, they thought that he was going to be fine. But that heart problem has nothing to do with that, that just happened to him.**

**Hope that cleared up any questions you might have had, if not hope you liked this chapter. Wow, I wrote a lot of bold stuff! Ha! Review!**


	30. Chapter 30

**Okay, Chapter 30 is a little short, but this is a full Mack/Calum chapter (with a little Mrs. Boucher)...Well, Chapter 30 with over 300 reviews, that's awesome! Hope you like it.**

Karen smiled as she watched Mack snuggle deeper in Calum's loose embrace. She had been watching them for about an hour, just sleeping, but it felt really good to her to just sit and watch. Her eyes kept landing on Calum's broken arm. Calum's eyes fluttered open and immediately looked down at Mack. He smiled before looking around the room. "Mom?"

"Hey sweetie."

"How's Cam?"

"He's with your father." She shuddered at the word father. She hated that man now more than ever for what he had done. "I'm sorry he did that to you."

"You know?"

She nodded. "I don't know the details, but I know he did it."

"So you know about Cam then," Calum said, not looking his mother in the eyes.

"What about Cam?"

"Dad hurt him too. After he came home, when you went to go get the ice." Calum searched her face and sighed. "You didn't know did you?"

"No," she whispered as she shook her head.

They were silent for a few more minutes. "How's Cam," Calum said, finally breaking the silence.

"I don't know I left before we heard anything."

"Why did you leave," Calum questioned.

Karen just shook her head and waved her hand, signaling that she wasn't going to tell him. He sighed and started to play with a lock of Mack's hair. She was a deep sleeper, so she didn't wake up. He heard his mother get up and walk to the door, opening it before making an exit. He pretended to be to focused on Mack to notice her go.

The question was: did she really think that their family was as happy as the cartoon ones? His dad's favorite dinner talks were about basketball and work. But, of course, that was when he was home for dinner. Most nights he stayed late and ate out, or heated up dinner. His brother had come home limping on so many occasions that he had lost count. Then there was his mom, who was oblivious to everything that went on in his life. She sided with his father on every matter like a doll that was programed to be like a parrot.

And he was left in the shadows.

"Calum, what are you thinking. You're spacing out," Mack said sitting up and staring into his eyes.

"Just thinking about stuff." He paused."What's the point of life?"

"I don't know. Calum what's wrong? You're acting strange." He could tell she was concerned, and she had every right to be.

"Have you ever felt like you were born to the wrong family?" He immediately regretted telling her this, she would never understand.

"What do you mean? Like, you wish you had a family more like you?"

"Forget it, forget I ever said anything."

"No," she said. "You were there for me when I had a question or a problem, now it's my turn."

"You wouldn't understand."

"I could try-"

"No Mack, you can't try! This is a question that you can't just try to understand. You have to live it! You have to ask yourself this everyday. You have to know what it feels like not to be loved."

"Calum-"

He stood up and ran his hands through his hair. "Mack, you will never know that feeling, and I'm so happy you won't. You will always have Troy and your parents and anyone else that happens to come in on your life. I know he doesn't care about me anymore. My dad didn't want any kids in the first place, and when we came along, he trained us to be miniaturized versions of him."

He walked over to her and started to whisper. "But in kindergarten, when I met you, something just instantly clicked. That's why I bullied you even more. I thought maybe that feeling would go away, but it didn't. I didn't know what was going on, but I knew that it wasn't right, because all I've ever known was to hate you. But for some reason, I just couldn't. I couldn't hate your face, or your hands, or your voice, I didn't know how and I couldn't learn how, so I improvised, and got friends to help me."

His voice's volume had increased a little. "When my dad found out, I thought he'd kill me. This was in third grade, I accidentally let it slip. He told me it wasn't important, but I knew it was." He was taking deep breaths and Mack could see all his emotions in his eyes. Fear, hate, hurt. She hugged him tightly, just like she had done when Troy made her go to school that day he was in the hospital.

"I'll always be here for you, if you ever need to talk," she told him.

He kissed her, very quickly, but the feeling lingered with Mack for awhile afterward. "Let's get your arm checked out," she said, careful to grab his other wrist and pull him out the door. They made their way up to where Mack's parents had been until they heard a yell. "I am NOT sharing a room with him! Can't you get me a private room like last time?"

Mack turned to Calum, her eyes wide, "that was Troy's voice. I would know it anywhere...and he's not happy."

**I couldn't think of anymore. Some of you have said that Mack should go to the hospital, but I've been trying to think of what should happen to her and nothing is coming. So HELP!**

**Next chapter, Troy and Cam get assigned to the same room and Cam's not too happy that he's in the pediatric ward because he's only 16. So next chapter is basically going to be them and maybe Chad and the guys will come visit.**


	31. Chapter 31

**Hey, here is Chapter 31!**

Mack and Calum ran toward Troy's voice. They rounded the corner and found themselves in a hallway with bears and horses painted on the walls. They knew instantly they were in the pediatric ward. They looked ahead and saw Troy walking down the hall, in this blood covered jeans with no shirt on toward the elevator.

"Troy!" Mack yelled. He ignored her and walked right by the two, shoving Calum. She turned around and yelled, "you can't leave!"

"Oh, yeah. Watch me."

Suddenly, she saw her dad coming from the other direction, and decided to stall Troy long enough for him to get there. "You know Troy, Calum's abusive." Calum's eyes widened and his mouth was a perfect "O" shape. She winked at him. Troy turned around slowly, just as Mack had planned. "Calum just keeps hitting me and punching me amongst other things," she said convincingly.

Before Troy could say anything, Coach Bolton came up behind him and grabbed him. "Nice job, Mack," he said as Troy kicked to get away. Troy sent her an icy glare, and she grinned.

Mack and Calum followed Coach Bolton to Troy's room, where Mrs. Boucher and Mrs. Bolton were laughing about something. Mack and Calum looked at each other. "Since when are they such good friends?" Mack asked. Calum shrugged in response.

"Welcome back, Bolton," Cam sneered. Troy gave him the same glare he had given Mack before laying down in the bed.

"How long do I have to stay here?" Troy asked, no emotion appearing on his face.

"Until they know that the cut in your lung won't start bleeding again," Coach Bolton said. It was then that Mack actually looked at Troy. Other than the bruises he had gotten from fighting Cam, he had incisions made by the doctors around his stomach and the right side of his lung.

The three adults walked out of the room and Mack watched the door until she was sure it was shut. She walked over to Troy and slapped him hard on the face, right on a bruise. He winced a little. "You know I thought it was bad when you wouldn't talk to us about Gabriella and Twinkle Town." Her voice went from mad to concerned. "Why are you acting like this, a big tough guy. Is it to be more popular or something? You're scaring me and Mom, I think you're even scaring Dad." She looked to Calum, "let's go."

Mack grabbed Calum's hand and led him to the door. She turned her head to try and make eye contact with Troy one last time, but he had turned on his side to look out the window. She shook her head and walked out the door. Calum shut the door as he stepped into the hall.

Cam stood up and walked over to Troy's bed. His icy glare melted as he settled his eyes on the other boy. He had hurt Troy pretty badly. He looked down at himself. 'Troy didn't do too bad either,' he said, noticing the bruises that covered his chest and arms. "Let's put down some rules," Cam said.

Troy rolled over and grabbed some tape that he was supposed to tape the gauze on with if something started to bleed. He stood and put a line of tape down the center of the room. "This is my side, that is your side," he said pointing to the taped off areas.

"You have the bathroom," Cam said.

"You have the door," Troy smirked. "Find one."

"Fine, but that means you can't leave," he said. "Oh, I get the T.V."

Troy's eyes narrowed. "I get the phone."

"Well, I have my cellphone." He felt in his pockets. "Where did it go," he whispered to himself.

"Your mom took it."

Cam groaned. "You have your cellphone, give me the phone."

"It's on my side."

Cam looked at the wall and smirked. "Technically," he paused and grabbed the phone pulling it over to his side. "It's not. The cord is on my side." He flashed Troy a smile, "not to hot now, are you Troy?"

Clearly beat, Troy crossed his arms around his chest and sat on his bed, facing the window. Cam pulled the curtain that separated them. He then followed Troy's lead and sat on the edge of the bed facing the wall. Becoming bored, he laid on the bed and began to count the ceiling tiles. After he finished counting, he went to grab the remote control, but noticed that it wasn't in his sight. He pulled back the curtain, just enough to peek his head through and get the remote control. Troy was laying on his back, throwing it remote in the air.

"Oh, do you need this," he asked. Cam rolled his eyes and shut the curtain, knowing Troy wasn't going to give it to him.

The door opened and a plump nurse entered. She had the biggest smile on her face, but being around his father for so long, he could read right through it. She was faking the smile, his father did that a lot.

"You must be Cam," she said in a high pitch voice. "I think there is another little boy in this room if you wanted to play," she said in a voice that sounding like she was talking to a little kid.

"Look," he said. "I'm not five."

"Oh, well don't you want to grow up fast."

"I'm sixteen!" He was getting annoyed with the nurse very quickly.

"How old are you? Fourteen?"

"Sixteen! Sixteen and a half, I'll be seventeen in August."

"You have an bad attitude mister," she said like a person a little kid's television show. She turned to walk across the curtain. Cam stuck his tongue out at her as she did. He saw the curtain get pulled. "Well Cam, this is Troy. Troy this is Cam," she said as if she was introducing preschoolers.

"We already know each other," Troy said annoyed. The nurse was getting on his nerves, she was so happy.

"Then why on Earth did you have the curtain pulled?"

"Are oblivious to everything? We hate each other!" Cam's face was red with anger and he was beginning to shake.

"We're just going to have to fix that huh." Troy and Cam's eyes widened as she brought in blocks and bowling pins from the play room. "We are going to have so much fun!"

"I'm not playing with blocks! Are you nuts!" Cam was pulling hair out of his head he was so mad.

"Temper, temper! I'm going to tell your mommy about that."

The door opened and a male nurse walked in the room. "Olivia, your needed with Tommy, he wants you. I'll take over here."

Olivia strutted out the door but stopped and said to the man, "be careful, the twelve-year-old on the blue bed has a temper."

Cam threw his hands in the air in defeat. He looked to Troy, "I'm never going to get through to her am I?"

"No."

"Hey guys," the nurse said. He had dark brown hair and tan skin. "I'm Kevin."

"Troy."

"Cam, and I'm sixteen, not twelve."

Kevin laughed, "I figured. She doesn't do well with the older kids."

"Do we have to play with blocks?" Troy asked looking at the brightly colored pieces of plastic on the floor with disgust.

"No," Kevin said. "Unless you want to-"

"Which I don't," Cam interrupted. "So, what's there to do in this place?"

**Sorry about the long wait, every time I got on the computer, my mom found something for me to do or one of my siblings had to do homework on it.**

**Thanks for all the great ideas!**

**Tell me what you think!**


	32. Chapter 32

**Chapter 32! It's a Troy and Cam chapter. Hope you like.**

Troy walked out of the room, sighed and shut his eyes. Kevin was a pretty cool guy, who had an awesome attitude to be around kids in the hospital. But it wasn't Kevin that was the problem, it was his roommate. Cam and him didn't get along, but at times it wasn't that wasn't a big deal.

"Um, excuse me, you're blocking the way."

Troy was pulled out of his thoughts by the voice. He opened his eyes to she a girl that looked about 14, with dark, dirty blond hair and big, inquisitive blue eyes. She reminded him of Mack. She was the right height, the right age, had the right hair and eye color.

"You're new aren't you," the girl asked. Troy managed a weak nod, since the last time he had been in the hospital he had stayed in bed the entire time. The girl smiled and held out her hand. "I'm Mikaela. I know how you feel, I've been through that awkward stage when your new. What do you have?"

"Internal bleeding, stomach...lung..." Troy said, still amazed at how much she looked like Mack.

"Oh," she said. She looked down at her slippers, "then maybe you didn't feel that way."

"Why? I'm not exactly new, just to this area."

"Do you get in fights often?"

"I...I..." Troy started to stutter. "But, this is my first hospital visit for a fight."

"Then why were you here before?" Troy could tell she didn't quite believe him.

"I...I...I don't want to talk about it," Troy said not coming to grips with talking about his illness to the public.

"You don't have to be ashamed or embarrassed," Mikaela said, wanting to know what was wrong with him.

"What are you in here for?" Troy asked, wanting a subject change.

"Cancer."

"But you haven't lost all your hair!"

Mikaela laughed. "Being stereotypical?" She paused, "so, what's your name?"

"Troy," he said, still amazed at this girl's character. "You remind me of my sister."

"Really? Cool. Well, can I get through?" Troy moved aside and watched her walk into the play area. She walked through the group of kids, stopping to get toys or to talk to a crying little boy.

"Hey Bolton,"came a voice from behind him. Cam walked up, "that Kevin guy, better that Olivia, but still creepy. What are you looking at?" Cam looked, "is that your sister?"

"That's what I thought. But, no, her name's Mikaela."

"So, what exactly do we have to do, pick a little kid and play..." Cam's voice trailed off. He looked at Troy for a more in depth explanation. Troy just shrugged and walked away. Cam groaned and muttered, "first Bolton taunts me with the stupid remote, then he ignores me. Ugh."

Troy walked over to Mikaela. She was telling a story to a couple of seven-year-olds. Troy couldn't help think that her voice sounded like Mack's too. The two girls could have been twins, the only difference between them being a large bruise on Mikaela's right shin and their smiles. Mack's smile was more a smirk, one that could be seen in pictures of a teenage Jack Bolton. Mikaela had a smile that showed off all her perfectly aligned teeth and lit up her face. He was intrigued by this girl that looked like his sister.

"What do you need Troy?"

Mikaela was looking up at him, her younger listeners dispersed amongst the other kids. Troy sat down on the floor beside her. He had a nagging feeling to ask her about her strength, but didn't know how to word it. "How are you...how do you...talk openly."

She looked him right in the eyes. "It was hard at first, but I figured if they didn't like it, tough. I mean, I didn't ask to get this. I was terrified in the beginning, but I learned that it's easier if you can talk about it. It takes practice." She paused, "if you want to practice, I'll be around."

She stood up, but Troy grabbed her arm. "I think I'm ready."

hsmhsmhsmhsmhsm

Cam leaned up against the wall. The kid he said hello to wouldn't shut up. He talked about his family, his friends, his treatments for the burns he received in a fire, what he wanted to do when he grew up... Cam had tuned him out right as he started to talk about what they were doing in kindergarten.

He didn't do well with kids. Maybe that was because his father had filled his childhood with hate and violence, with the occasional hug from his mom. He remembered his father beating him to make him stronger, yelling at him to make a wall of defense against names and other words and not feeding him if he said anything good about a Bolton. He took a deep breath as a memory turned his vision cloudy.

"_Today in art, Troy and I painted a picture with Chad. It was a kitty," five-year-old Cam said smiling. "Troy's a good painter."_

"_That's nice sweetie," Mrs. Boucher said in a kind voice. Cam could tell she was tired and continued eating so she wouldn't have to talk to him anymore, she was already having trouble getting Calum to eat his food. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw his father glare at him._

_By the end of dinner, Calum had fallen asleep in his high chair. "I'm putting Calum to bed, then I'm going to sleep myself. Can you make sure Cam gets to bed at a reasonable hour Daniel?"_

"_Of course," Daniel said in a happy voice. He watched at Karen walked up the stairs with Calum laying gently in her arms. Once the door to their room had shut, his happy face changed. "Cam, I think it's time for a little chat," he said slyly._

"_About what?" Cam said._

"_You'll see, follow me."_

_Cam obediently got out of his chair and followed his father to the bathroom. "Why are we here?"_

"_Because we're going to play a game," Daniel said, locking the bathroom door. His eyes grew cold and narrow, his voice had become mean and gruff. "Cam, I want you to know that a Bolton is a bad person, okay."_

"_But Troy's nice Daddy."_

"_Don't you 'but Troy's nice Daddy' me! I've know them longer than you and I know they're bad. Do you want to see how bad Troy is?" Cam nodded, unsure of what was going to happen. "Stick your hand down you throat, I want you to puke up anything in your stomach."_

_Cam did as he was told, because he always minded his parents. They loved him and wouldn't do anything to hurt him. "Why did I have to do that?" _

"_That's how bad Troy is. I don't want you talking about him ever again unless it's about him getting hurt. He should have died 5 years ago! Don't be nice to him, he doesn't deserve to live. If you do, you'll do what you did again. This is all Troy's fault. Don't play with him or speak to him. I want you to terrorize him, make his life a living hell!" He paused, "if you want me to love you, do as your told like a good little boy."_

"_But isn't that bad," Cam asked._

"_No. Hurting a Bolton is never a bad thing. It's like batman and the joker, your batman, he's the joker. Batman hurts the joker, but it is for the good of the community. Does that make sense Cam?"_

"_Yeah."_

"_Good, tomorrow I want you punch him in the face okay." Daniel turned and unlocked the door before turning back. "Oh, and Cam. This fun game," he pretended to gag himself as he had instructed Cam to do, "is our little secret. Can you keep a secret Cam? Because if you don't Daddy won't love you anymore."_

"Are you okay Mister?"

Cam shook his head and looked down at the talkative little boy. He realized that his eyes were fill with tears, tears that could never come out. His father had made that clear. "Yeah," Cam said, his voice shaky from the memory of his first 'game.' "Why don't you go with your friends."

"I don't have any. Nobody likes me because of my face is burnt."

"Really," Cam said holding back his tears, "in kindergarten, nobody liked me either."

**Tell me what you think! Review!**


	33. Chapter 33

**Thanks for reviewing! You guys are the greatest. **

**Also, to Brishty (if your still reading it): If you were "bored to death" with the first few chapters, why did you read all the way to chapter 32? Just a question, I'm not trying to sound mean or what not.**

Calum laid down in the grass very carefully. His back hurt and it hurt to breath. He unbuttoned his shirt and looked at his chest and abdomen. His skin was heavily bruised, especially around his ribs. The fourteen-year-old took a deep breath and shut his eyes.

His father had been drinking, not that it was unusual these days. Ever since Calum had come out that he liked Mack, his father had turned to alcohol to calm himself. Then he would come after Calum.

Mrs. Boucher had gone grocery shopping and it had been just Calum and Daniel. His father only drank when his mother wasn't home, as if she didn't know about it. Calum had never gotten hurt this bad though. He tried to stand, but he fell back down in pain.

Usually he would go to Adam or Teagan's house and say he got in a fight with Cam. If they knew it was his father...he'd get killed before the police could get involved. Most likely, his father would try to kill Cam as well, but Cam would put up a fight. Calum wouldn't have the courage to fight back. He always sat there and let his father verbally and physically abuse him, and pray that there would be a tomorrow.

hsmhsmhsmhsmhsm

Teagan rang the doorbell and one of Adam's little sisters answered. "He's in his room," said the 5-year-old.

Teagan nodded and walked the familiar walk to Adam's blue and gold bedroom door. He and Calum had helped Adam paint it in second grade and it needed a new paint job badly. He walked through the door and noticed Adam pacing the room, phone to his ear.

He slammed it down and looked at Teagan. "Apparently, Calum can't come to the phone right now." Adam sat on his bed. "That's bull, we just saw him, what... two and a half hours ago! Something is wrong, I can feel it."

"What do you think?" Teagan asked.

"I think it's his dad. I mean, if what he said was true, he kicked Cal out...right? Why would he pick him up from that meeting if he kicked him out."

"You don't think...his dad's abusive, do you?"

"Teagan! Put two and two together! How many times did he come over and have bruises that were 'from Cam?' Something is not right."

"What do we do Adam?"

"There's only one thing we can do." Adam leaped off his bed made his way out of his room and down the stairs. He walked into the kitchen, Teagan hot on his heels.

"Hey Hun," his mom said.

"Mom can we talk to you?"

"Of course," she said sitting down in a chair and putting down the rag she was cleaning the counter with. "Where's Calum?"

"We think Calum's dad is abusing him," Adam said sheepishly. "And we have evidence."

hsmhsmhsmhsmhsm

Chad walked down the street. He was by himself and he liked it. It was just him and his basketball. He couldn't say he wasn't worried, Troy got hurt pretty bad in the fight, but the way Coach Bolton handled it, it couldn't have been serious.

He hadn't gone home yet, he didn't really want to see the look on his mother's face when she saw the bruises he had gotten from the West High center. He didn't want to start that essay for Coach Bolton either. He'd do it with Troy during free period, both of them weren't very good at writing, maybe Taylor would help him.

He stopped walking when he heard a noise, a moan of pain. He looked ahead and saw Calum laying on the grass, his shirt half buttoned, his eyes almost closed. He was a mess.

Chad ran forward and knelt beside him. "Calum, what happened?"

"Get away from me."

Chad had a feeling that was coming. The two of them were still on thin ice. "I want to help you, okay? Oh, look at you. Don't fall asleep."

"Why not?"

Chad shook his head. He didn't know what to do. He pulled out his cellphone and dialed a number. "Come on pick up...Hi Mrs. Bolton, is Troy there?...He is?...Oh, well I have a problem...Calum's hurt and...bye." Chad shut the phone off and looked up into the house. There was a man inside looking at him with distasteful eyes.

"Calum, is this your house?"

"Sort of."

"Huh," Chad said wanting more details about the man in the window.

"My dad kicked me out, but he picked me up today from the basketball meeting."

"Is the man in your house your dad?"

Calum nodded and his eyes shut. He took at deep breath and before Chad could tell him to, he opened his eyes again. "It's not that bad. Cam's gotten worse done to him."

Chad cocked his head to the side, "you mean he doesn't just do this because you like Mack..."

"No." Calum's voice was getting weak. "If Cam doesn't beat Troy hard enough, Dad makes him puke up anything in his stomach and then beats him. Once he made him play basketball for three hours straight, then puke, then he beat him."

Chad was now scared of the man in the window. If he did that to his own kids, imagine what he could do to a complete stranger.

"I shouldn't have told you that! Now he's going to kill me."

"Not if me and the guys can help it." Calum looked up at Chad and knew he was sincere about his words.

"I thought you...hated me."

"I hated your brother."

"Don't..." his breathing was labored. "He's...trying...to change."

Chad looked up and saw a familiar car driving down the road. "Come on Calum, stay awake. Coach Bolton's coming, I see him."

Jack got out of his car and ran toward the two boys. He looked at Calum for three seconds before asking, "where does it hurt."

Calum placed a hand over his ribs, then moved his hand to his lungs. Jack picked him up and carefully carried him to his car. Chad heard his name and walked toward two boys he had never met. They were breathing heavily.

"How did you know my name?" Chad asked as he approached the two boys.

"Who doesn't when you got to school with Mack? What happened to him," one of the boys, a blond kid, asked.

"Who are you?"

"I'm Adam, and this is Teagan," the blond kid said annoyed. "We're Calum's best friends. It's his dad right?"

Chad nodded and Adam settled down. "I knew something wasn't right," Adam said solemnly.

"Here, why don't I walk you guys home." Chad stopped talking when he noticed the basketball on Adam and Teagan's sweatshirts. "You any good?"

"I guess, not as good as Calum, but we start," Adam said.

"Your coming to East High right," Chad said. "Nod your heads yes."

The two boys laughed at Chad and decided that East High wouldn't be that bad.

**Hope you like it. Review!**


	34. Chapter 34

**Hey sorry about the long wait! This week our school play is opening and I have had practices all week for like three hours along with homework! Don't you hate it when you have stuff going on and you get tons of homework! Well, this is really short, but I wrote it in the time I have off this week. Tomorrow we might not have practice so I'll work on it more then. **

Troy laid in bed, his head resting nicely on the pillow. He had screwed up and he knew it. He should have told the guys that he and Cam had made that truce. But he didn't, and that was why he was at the hospital...again.

Looked at the bed next to him. Cam was sound asleep, one arm hung over the side of the bed. He had never really known a time when he and Cam hadn't fought. The truth of it was he couldn't remember kindergarten, no matter what he told Gabriella. All he remembered was that he and Chad had been best friends since...well forever, and they had met Zeke in first grade and Jason when he moved in in second grade.

"Hey Troy, I would appreciate it if you didn't stare at me in my sleep."

Troy smiled. "Sorry, just thinking."

"About what?"

"Kindergarten."

Cam laughed as he sat up. "Kindergarten?"

"Oh yeah, and first grade." They both burst out in laughter. "Cam?"

"Yeah."

Troy took a deep breath. "I'm sorry, about everything."

Cam's laughter ceased and he looked down at the floor. He looked back up and gave Troy a long stare. "You're not going to go back on your word this time are you?"

Troy shook his head. He was going to tell the guys the minute he got out of the hospital. The door opened and they assumed it was Kevin, he had said he'd come by later. Mack flew in the room, tears staining her face and ran to Troy. She slowed down, reluctant to be hugged by her brother, but none the less she cried into his chest. "What happened?"

Her head turned to Cam. "Your dad, that's what happened."

Cam's eyes widened, knowing exactly what she meant. Troy was confused, but he still listened. Cam jumped off the bed and knelt next to Mack, his hand on her knee."Is he okay," Cam asked worriedly. "Please Mack, tell me he's okay."

"I don't know, he was pretty beat up. Chad found him, I guess your dad picked him up from that meeting and did it to him. He was having trouble breathing and he wanted to fall asleep so bad..."

Cam was staring off at the back wall, his eyes were vacant of emotion. Mack got off of Troy's lap and walked out of the room. Cam was still down on one knee, his facial expression hadn't changed. "It's my fault," he whispered. His voice was quivering. He stood up and kicked the wall. "I could have told! But I didn't, I was scared and now look what happened!"

"Why didn't you tell anyone?"

Cam turned his head to look at Troy. "I didn't want Calum to get hurt, big difference that made." Cam bit his lip and sat down next to Troy on the bed. "I don't know what I'm going to do. I wont be able to live with myself if Calum..."

"He won't," Troy said his own voice beginning to quiver. "He won't, he can't."

"Why him, why was it not me?"

"People ask that question all the time. There's no real answer to it."

"How would you know," Cam sneered. "You've never had to deal with this."

"No, maybe I haven't. But I was awake when my parents asked the same question."

**Hope you liked it...it was too short, but I thought I needed to get something up. So, tell me what you think.**


	35. Chapter 35

**Hey, this is short, but I needed to get this out. **

Calum ran in a place that was unfamiliar to him. It was a field full of green grass, tall trees and colorful flowers. The sky was bright blue and there wasn't a gray cloud in sight. He looked down at his arms, they were bruised like they had been, but yet, he couldn't feel anything.

His head should have been aching, it had been when he had been talking to Chad. He kept running, not feeling anything but the thud of his feet hitting the earth. He didn't know where he was going, but had a feeling that he wasn't leaving the field.

The trees didn't seem to disappear and the grass became greener with every step he ran. The flowers never seemed to get closer to him either. He looked in both directions, but everything was the same.

He heard a noise from behind the trees and gasped. Two figures stepped out into the bright sunlight. It was Adam and Teagan, but he heard a high pitch girl's shriek. Keisha and Bailey ran out and started to skip in the tulips and lilies.

"Why didn't you tell us?"

Calum jerked his head to the side and noticed Adam standing next to him. He looked concerned and he stood still. Teagan came up next to him, the same look that Adam had. Calum opened his mouth, but he couldn't form words.

"Cal, we're your best friends. Just remember that you can tell us anything...okay," Teagan said.

"Yeah," Calum said, finally able to form words. Adam nodded and Teagan clapped him on the back before they walked toward the girls. More people were coming from behind the trees or jumping out from under the flowerbeds.

Many kids said hello to him, kids he would see around the school. His team was all in uniform and his teachers all looked the same. His eyes narrowed in confusion. What was happening?

"Mine as well make the best of it," he whispered. He watched Troy and Cam walk out from behind the trees to their teams. Troy was met by Chad first, who gave him a high five. Cam was flocked by a group of his followers, each looking as brain dead as the one standing next to him.

"Where am I," he asked to no one in particular. The funny thing was that even though there were many people around him, no one noticed that he said a word.

"I don't know, where are you?"

Calum turned to the familiar voice and smiled. He ran a hand through his hair and chuckled. "I was hoping you could tell me Mack."

Mack rolled her eyes, but smiled. Then she noticed his arms. "Ouch, that looks like it hurts."

"Actually I can't feel anything."

"Well, if you can't feel any pain if I do this, then...tag you're it." She laughed as she pushed him on the ground and ran in the other direction, sprinting through the mob of people. He jumped off the ground and ran after her.

The two were running in and out of groups. Some of the people acknowledged them, but most just went along with their conversations. Calum didn't even notice, his only focus was Mack.

"You can't get me!" She yelled as she quickened her speed. He started to run as fast as he could, almost bumping into his old kindergarten teacher.

But then the world started to spin.

He stopped all motion and blinked. It was hard for him to open his eyes, and the sun was becoming too bright for him. The spinning was getting more rapid every second, until his finally fell to the ground. He heard Mack's voice as he closed his eyes. "Calum...Calum please wake up...Calum open your eyes..."

Suddenly, Calum's eyes blinked open and a sharp pain ran from his fingers all the way to his toes.

**Sorry about the shortness, this has been a busy week. I hope you liked it. I'm working on chapter 36, it should be up tonight or tomorrow. I was just watching the "Sick Inside by Hope Partlow" music video...Zac's in it! **


	36. Chapter 36

**Thanks for reviewing! Sorry about the wait, my little brother Braden screwed the computer up and my dad had to fix it, resulting in everything being erased...at least all of my stuff somehow got erased...**

**Anyway, you can thank Braden for the wait. Hope you like it. April Vacation is in 2 days for us, so I'll add more then.**

**Chapter 36**

Calum's eyes blinked open and a sharp pain ran from his fingers all the way to his toes. He let out a small groan and opened his eyes. He definitely wasn't in the valley anymore. Even if his sight was blurry, he could see no green. Just white. Plain, boring white and a bright light. He heard a fuzzy voice- that he was almost sure was his mother's- and saw the blurry washed-out colors of his mother's blue and gold nail polish.

He tried to get words out, but he didn't have the strength to. He let out another groan. With each blink his vision was getting better. He could make out his mother and brother's outlines, but there was a third figure. He turned his head to get a better look.

"Calum, don't move," said Cam.

"Oh, sweetie," his mother said, putting a hand over her mouth.

He could now see both faces clearly and from his place on the bed, he could see his mother's red puffy eyes. He was connected to a bunch of machines that he didn't know. He cocked his head a little bit to look out the window. The bright sunny light hurt his eyes.

Questions flooded his mind, but he couldn't speak. He didn't have the strength to open his mouth. Then he felt a squeeze on his hand and looked into the face of Mack. When he saw her smile, he couldn't help but smile too. He tried his hardest to speak.

"Where am I?" It came out hoarse, scratchy and soft.

"You're at the hospital sweetie," his mom answered. "And you're safe."

Calum took deep breaths, memories were flooding his mind. It seemed like yesterday that Chad had found him laying in the yard. But the more the thought, he figured it had to have been a longer time because Cam was in normal clothes.

"How long..."

"You've been out of it for like a month and a half," Cam said smiling. "We were starting to worry about you kid."

"You don't have to worry about me," Calum said. "What happened to dad?"

"He ran off like a coward when he thought you wouldn't make it," Mack stated. Then there was silence.

"Lets give Calum some time to think," Karen said as she bent over him, kissing his forehead. "Hope you feel better sweetie." Cam and Mack stood up and walked behind her out of the room. Mack turned her head right before she walked out the door and blew him a kiss.

Once the door shut behind Mack, Calum sighed in both pain and confusion. What had Mack meant by 'he ran off' or 'you wouldn't make it.' He looked at his badly bruised arms and shut his eyes. Calum had never bruised easily, which made it easier for him to get by without suspicion that he was abused.

He heard the door creak open and his eyelids jumped open. Troy sat on the edge of Calum's bed and both looked at each other silently for a few moments.

"How you feeling?"

Calum looked up at Troy. His bruises were gone and he looked normal. "Okay," Calum replied.

"You got some good friends. They came in everyday from what Mack said."

Calum smiled, glad that they cared enough to come see him when he wasn't even really there.

"Get some rest, okay," Troy said as he stood. He slowly glided to the door and walked through it, leaning on it after it closed. He shook his head and walked down to the lobby before picking up his bike and riding around on it. He stopped in front of his house and stared at it.

"What are you staring at Troy?"

He turned as smiled at Mack. She had on an East High Basketball t-shirt with some short and a basketball under her arm. He shook his head, "just wondering."

"About what?"

"I don't know," he answered. "Life?"

"Wanna play?"

Troy chuckled. "You know that I could beat you."

Her smile turned competitive. "Care to bet?"

"Sorry, saving my money."

Mack rolled her eyes, "for that big first date you and Gabriella can't seem to make happen?"

Troy sighed. "Okay, that it isn't my fault that I got sick."

"But it was your fault about the fight."

He looked at her. "You're never going to forgive me for that, are you?"

Her eyes narrowed. "They're still cleaning up their gym! I don't care if you and Cam get to be best buddies, but it's going to take a while for you to gain my trust again. All he did was apologize and you couldn't even tell your friends that you and him were on equal ground!"

Troy nodded as she continued. "I can't trust this new attitude that you have."

"Yeah...so about basketball...you want to play?"

She smiled, "I'll cream you!"

"It could be dangerous to play with me, I'm so hot."

"I laugh in the face of danger," she said, then let out an devilish laugh. "Mwa ha ha ha!"

He lifted her up over his shoulder and carried her to the basketball court.

**So, I'm trying to decide whether to start the new one with the first day of high school or have a short summer fic and then a new one with all the high school drama...tell me what you think because I don't know. I've got to go, dinner!**

**Review and tell me what you think!**


	37. Chapter 37

**So, I'm skipping Calum being in the hospital because we have been there a lot. He would have just stayed in his room anyway. Let's welcome Calum back to school by starting Chapter 37 with his first day back!**

Calum hated the stares that he got when he returned to school. Some were sympathetic glances, others were glares...as if he had faked the whole incident to skip school. He still had some stitches that weren't out yet as well as some bruises on his arms and face and a broken arm, but other than that he was fine physically. He was scared on the inside though he would never let it show.

"Forget about them Cal, they don't know anything," Adam sneered as another group of boys glared at the three boys.

"Yeah," Calum replied distantly. "They don't know anything."

"You okay," Teagan asked.

"I'm fine."

Teagan looked skeptical but didn't ask any further questions.

"Hi Adam," came a wishful voice. The three turned around and saw a girl with bleach blond hair and very pale skin that made her dark brown eyes stand out.

Adam sighed and rolled his eyes. "Hi Fawn," he said uninterested.

"I was just wondering if-"

"No," Adam interrupted.

The girl looked outraged. "But you didn't even let me finish. I just wanted to know if you had a partner for the language arts project."

"Sorry Fawn, but I have a partner," he said trying to look as sincere as possible.

"Oh, okay...do you have a date for the semi?"

Adam didn't answer and Fawn was looking excited. Calum saw this and said, "you remember Adam, big dance, semi formal, date required..."

"I know what a semi is Calum," Adam said threw his teeth. He turned his direction to Fawn, "I'm...going with..." He turned his head to the hall. "Bailey," he said rather high pitched. "I'm going with Bailey."

"Oh. I got to go to English," Fawn said quietly. She hugged her books tight to her chest and walked through the group of boys and around the corner.

Adam looked back at his friends. Both looked dumbstruck. "What?"

"I didn't know you asked Bailey," Teagan said acquisitively.

Calum snorted, "I didn't know you liked Bailey."

"I didn't ask her, I just needed a name," he said. "I don't like her."

"And I'm the President of the United States," Teagan said sarcastically.

"Really? Man they keep you secret. How's the White House doing?" Adam replied. Calum and Teagan both gave him a look and he sighed. "Can we drop it now, please. I don't like her."

"Okay dude, what ever," Teagan said in a sing song voice.

Calum wasn't paying attention. A pair of hands were covering his eyes. "Guess who?"

"I need a hint," he said, knowing who the hands belonged to.

"She's smart, pretty, funny, a great basketball player..."

"Well then, it can't be Mack," Calum heard Adam shout out. Calum opened his eyes and turned around. "He's right, you're an amazing basketball player," he said before he kissed her cheek.

"That's not what I meant Cal."

'Two can play at this game,' Calum thought. "Mack, does Bailey know that Adam likes-"

"To skateboard," Adam interrupted.

"Why would she care?"

"Oh, she would care if she knew that she was the skateboard," Teagan said smiling. Calum and Teagan high-fived as Adam groaned.

"I hate you, I hate you both! I never said that."

"You didn't have to, we read between the lines," Calum explained.

"We're just two innocent friends trying to help you learn who you are," Teagan said.

Adam glared at them and turned around walking straight into Bailey. "Sorry," he said as he picked up her books. "I am so sorry," he said. "Let me help you-" but even if he wanted to speak, he wouldn't be heard. Calum and Teagan were laughing at him because his voice cracked. "I'm gonna go now."

"What's wrong with him today?" Keisha asked as she and Bailey walked up to the others.

Teagan and Calum looked at each other briefly before Calum said, "little Adam is all grown up," in a voice that sounded like a mother when their son or daughter got married. "It seemed like just yesterday he was walking with me to the first day of sixth grade and know he's a grown man."

"I wouldn't go that far," Teagan said as the boys jogged to catch up with Adam and left the girls to wonder.

hsmhsmhmhsmhsmhsm

"Gabriella...no that sounds weird. Gabi...no way that sounds like a guy on t.v."

"Troy, why don't you just do it like the girls do it," Chad asked. "Here watch, pretend Jason here is Gabriella."

"Goody, Troy where we going?" Jason asked.

"Observe," Chad instructed. "'Hey you want to go out to a movie or something?' It's simple! You're already passed the 'what if she doesn't like me' part."

"Troy, you've been dating Gabriella for how long?" Zeke asked.

"Three months, two weeks and six days," he said, unaware that Chad was standing behind him mouthing every word he said because he'd heard them so much.

"Try this Troy," Ryan said. He approached Jason and said "Hey girlfriend, want go to lunch with me," in a high pitch voice that reminded them all of Sharpay.

The group laughed. "Troy, I hope that inspired you, because no matter what you say, it can't be worse than that," Chad said through laughter.

Troy still looked nervous. "Troy, it's not like you're asking her to marry you," Jason said.

"Although, I can see him in a few years down on one knee," Chad got down on one knee and held an imaginary ring box to Troy. "Gabriella even though I couldn't build up the courage -that a captain should have- to ask you out on a date, will you marry me?"

"Chad I didn't know you cared that much," came a voice from behind them.

"Hi, Gabriella...me and the guys were just leaving...right guys."

"Right!"

"So," Gabriella said. "What was that all about?"

"Oh...nothing. Um, say...would you want to have dinner tonight...if you don't want to-"

"I'd love to," she said, interrupting him before he started to ramble. "And you can put your home ec skills to work. I'll be by your house at seven?"

"Sure," Troy said, not knowing what to say.

"Bye."

"Bye," he said. She smiled and walked down the hall to her history class. Once she turned the corner, Troy ran in the other direction yelling, "CHAD! WE HAVE A PROBLEM! I CAN'T COOK!"

He stopped and smiled to himself. "Zeke, I'm gonna need a favor." He started to run to find his friends trying to figure out how to get the guys to help him cook a dinner Gabriella wouldn't forget.

**Oh...Gabriella won't ever forget this dinner! Chapter 38 should be up soon!  
**

**Hope you like it!**

**Review!**


	38. Chapter 38

**Here is Chapter 38! **

Troy wandered around the school looking for his friends until the bell rang. He sighed and wondered if this was a sign that the rest of his day wasn't going to go well. Knowing he was already late, he decided to take his time going to class. He could always come up with an excuse.

That is...if he didn't have science next.

He rolled his eyes. "Yep," he said aloud to no one. "Today is my lucky day...not. The one time that I'm late for class, my dad is teaching it. Good job, Troy."

He decided to go to the library so he didn't have to walk in late without a pass. His classmate would obviously think he was with Gabriella, and rumors would be spread. He knew the way that high schoolers thought and he couldn't bare it if a nasty rumor went around like the one that went around last year.

Troy chuckled at the memory, even though it wasn't too funny to him. Chad had thought that it would make a good birthday present to tell the school-via intercom- that Troy was caught in the locker room with Sharpay and it was 'kind of steamy' when he went in. Of course that never happened, Chad had only said that because Sharpay had called him a talent-less loser, and being the 15 almost 16-year-old that Chad was, he used his best friend to help torture her in return. Needless to say, his dad questioned him about it about 800 times, wanting to make sure that Troy hadn't done anything wrong.

Of course if rumors like that spread about him and Gabriella, his dad would no doubt lock him in his room. Last year the rumors died down once Sharpay told every passerby that she 'hated Troy Bolton' and that 'he is an arrogant loser that will never amount to anything!'

Troy walked in the library and sat down in a chair. He looked at the table he was sitting at and noticed a cook book. 'Maybe today won't be so bad,' he thought as he opened the book and started to read.

hsmhsmhsmhsmhsm

"Where is he?" Jason whispered to Zeke, Chad and Ryan.

"He probably screwed something up and is sulking somewhere," Chad whispered back. "He does know that we have science now and didn't just walk into some random class right."

"I don't know, I mean, Troy wouldn't skip his dad's class after last year...right Chad..." Zeke said referring to the rumors that Chad spread last year.

"It's not my fault that Troy is a great victim!"

"And that you have a big mouth," Ryan whispered, a little too loud.

"Ah, Chad, Jason, Ryan and Zeke. I should have know you four wouldn't be paying attention. Chad, tell me the answer to number 5 on the homework."

Chad's mouth dropped. "Number 5...um..." Jason pushed his paper over so Chad could see the answer. "Acid."

Coach Bolton rolled his eyes. "Chad, next time don't look on Jason's paper please."

"Thanks Ryan," Chad whispered coldly once Coach Bolton began talking again.

"Don't mention it."

Chad's expression weakened when he looked at the door. Troy was outside motioning for them to come out. Chad sighed before mouthing, "I can't your dad's already caught me not paying attention!"

Troy didn't understand and raised his hands in the air. Chad sighed and mouthed, "fine, hold on."

"Coach?" Chad whined. Jack looked over at the boy who interrupted his lecture on periodic law. "Can I go to the nurse? I feel like um...I'm going to, um, puke."

Jack raised and eye brow. "Go, but get notes on this material."

Chad nodded and walked out the door. Troy was leaning against the wall, cook book in his hand. "So how'd it go?"

Troy sighed. "She wants me to cook."

"I knew you screwed something up. Why didn't you tell her you had a fancy restaurant reservation or something?"

"I don't know okay," Troy said. "But, I'm going to need you and the guys to help me cook."

"If I help, you are not going in the kitchen!" Chad said.

Troy rolled his eyes. "Sorry about catching your apron on fire in home ec! Not my fault that you were talking to me when I was using the iron," he said, his volume rising with every word.

"Troy! Most people can multi task unlike you!" Chad yelled.

"Hey guys?" Both boys turned to the voice and their eyes widened. "Troy, Chad next time you skip out on my class, you'll want to be more quiet," Coach Bolton said.

"Alright Dad, I'll remember that."

"Ditto Coach."

Jack laughed at the boy's faces. Both looked uncomfortable, Troy was looking at his sneakers, Chad at the ceiling. "Oh, guys? After school, in my classroom, if you don't come you have detention."

"Yes sir," they said in unison.

hsmhsmhsmhsmhsm

"So, what did you guys want us to wait for you for?" Jason asked as Troy and Chad walked out of the science room.

"We need your help," Troy said. "I need to cook something for Gabriella tonight...for our date, and I kinda don't know how and since Zeke bakes..."

"Troy, baking and cooking are two different things," Zeke said.

"How can they be different?" Chad asked. "You mix things in a bowl and put it in the oven! How hard can it be?"

"Chad, I bake cookies and pastries and deserts. Cooking meals are different." Zeke sighed. "Do you have any recipes?"

Troy pulled out the cook book and flipped to a page. Zeke looked at it and said, "lets go to the store and get the ingredients. Mind you, this is going to be harder than it looks."

**Next Chapter will be their "baking experience" and Troy's date with Gabriella. Let's just say that disaster is on it's way.**

**Review!**


	39. Chapter 39

**I hope this chapter lives up to your expectations.**

"So, what do we need?" Zeke asked as he pushed the shopping cart through the store. Troy held the cook book so that he and Chad could see it.

"Um...lets see 8 tortillas, page 206." Troy started to flip the pages.

"What are you making?" Chad asked.

"_We're_ making enchiladas."

Chad groaned, "lets just buy the tortillas in one of those value packs."

"But Chad-" Troy started.

"No, we're buying them," Chad interrupted. "I'm not making tortillas. Better yet, why don't we just buy enchiladas and say we made those."

"Because Chad, it's the thought that counts," Jason said as he picked up taco mix. "Let's just use these, they can't be too different. What's next?"

"1 pound of hamburger."

"This is taking forever," Chad complained. "Lets split up. Me and Troy, Jason and Ryan, and Zeke since your good with this stuff, go by your self." Each of the boys were given a few things to get and then split up.

"Okay," Chad said, "1 medium chopped onion. How do you buy a medium chopped onion?"

"In a can," Troy said as they ran to the canned foods section.

When they arrived at the canned foods, they noticed that there was no canned onions. "Must be out," Chad said. "Do you like onions."

"Not really."

"Okay skip 'um." He said. "Next?"

"Tomato sauce."

"That's in a can," Chad said. "We're in the right spot. Carrots...beans...tomatoes...ah! Tomato sauce! But what kind do we get?"

"I don't know just pick one."

Chad shut his eyes and said, "inney...meany...minny...you. What's next?"

"Sour cream."

"You have sour cream," Chad said as he looked at the book.

"How do you know?" Troy asked.

"Because I saw it in your fridge yesterday."

Troy rolled his eyes, "that's all we have to get right."

"Yeah, lets go find the others."

hsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsm

"Chad, get me a 10-inch skillet," ordered Zeke.

"What's a skillet?"

Zeke rolled his eyes, "a pan Chad, a pan."

"Oh." Chad looked at all the Bolton's pans and bit his lip. "Troy pass me a ruler."

Zeke slapped his forehead with his hand. Troy who was watching Ryan toss the salad passed Chad a ruler. Chad then proceeded to take every pan out of the cabinet and measured them until he found one 10 inches across. He passed the pan to Zeke who, after giving him a dirty look, said, "go help Ryan with the salad."

"Boys, what are you doing in there?" Jack entered the room as Troy opened the flour by popping it and both turned white. Everyone went silent as Jason took the duster that was in the closet out and dusted the flour off of Jack's face. Jack spit flour out of his mouth and looked at Troy. "What are you doing?" He sneered.

"Opening flour?"

"Anyway, don't forget that banquet tonight." He turned and walked toward the living room. "I bet its home ec homework! Ugh!"

The five boys glanced at each other before Troy ran from the kitchen, leaving a trail of flour as he went. The other four followed and stopped in the hallway outside the living room.

"What banquet?" Troy asked.

Jack looked over his flour covered newspaper. "Your mother's banquet tonight. You know the annual one."

"Oh yeah," Troy said his heart sinking. "What time is that at?" He crossed his fingers behind his back hoping that his father would not say-

"Seven."

"Great." Troy smile was forced and his voice a little high pitched. "I'll be there."

Jack gave him a funny look. "You okay son."

"Never been better," he said. Once he turned around he bit his lip and let out a breath. The four others rushed to the kitchen so they would be there when Troy trudged in.

Troy walked in and whipped the flour off his face. "I should just break up with her now. She's going to think I hate her."

"Troy don't think that way," Jason said.

"Pretend to be sick and once your parents leave, a miracle will occur and you'll get better," Ryan said.

"That won't work," Chad said.

"Why not?"

"Because my parents would stay home thinking I was going to die," Troy said. "She looked so happy when I asked her this morning."

Chad smiled. "I got an idea."

"What is it?" Troy was starting to get excited. Chad walked over to him and whispered in his ear. "Anybody else got an idea?" Troy asked hopefully.

"No Troy this will work."

"It better," Troy said.

"What are you doing?"

They turned their heads and saw Mack standing in the doorway, Bailey and Keisha right behind her.

"What do you want? Cookies," Chad threw a bag of oreos at her which she caught easily. "Milk?" He grabbed the carton and threw that at her too. This time she didn't catch it and milk was all over the floor. The three girls jumped as he threw juice and crackers at them. They turned and ran up the stairs.

"What time is it?" Jason asked.

"Six," Ryan replied.

"We're doomed," Troy moaned, sitting in a chair.

"Hey Troy?" Troy looked at Chad. He was holding a bowl of orange juice up above his head, which he dumped on Troy, who yelled from the coldness of the drink.

Troy stood up and stepped on the container that the juice had been in before Chad put it in the bowl and slipped in the milk. As he went down, he grabbed a hold of Ryan, who in turn grabbed Jason. All three grabbed a handful of soggy crackers and chucked it at Chad, who ducked, making the crackers hit Zeke.

Zeke opened the refrigerator as Chad laughed at the three on the ground. He grabbed a bowl of green jell-o and dumped it down Chad's shirt. While Chad danced around from the jell-o, Zeke tossed Troy whipped cream. Troy grabbed it and sprayed it in Chad's face. Chad grabbed Troy and pushed him to the ground. As Chad and Troy wrestled, Jason grabbed Chocolate sauce and Ryan grabbed honey. They poured the sticky substances on the two boys and Zeke put a cherry on the top of each boy's head. None of them heard the door slam.

The kitchen was a mess when Elaine walked in.

**I really hope you liked that.**

**What's Chad's plan?**

**Review!**


	40. Chapter 40

**Thanks to the reviewers! I opened my e-mail and found like 13 review alerts! I was really excited!**

**Anyway, to answer some questions:**

**Monica7725: No they didn't, when they walked out of the science room right before they went to the store, Troy and Chad had just had their little meeting. The meeting was pretty much Coach Bolton telling them what happened in the class and what they missed so I didn't put that in.**

**Jamez.Blonde: I think it might...I haven't decided when or where, but it will be coming up again because it's still with him...it will be a surprise when it happens though so keep a look out, you never know when his heart might do that. It's not serious, just a little scary from what I've read about it. **

**So, I like the questions that you reviewers are asking so keep up the good reviews and enjoy!**

"Hi mom."

"Troy explain to me _immediately_ what you did to the kitchen." She looked down at Troy and as an after thought asked, "and what are you doing on top of Chad? No, I don't think I want to know."

Troy jumped off of Chad and looked at the kitchen. "Um...well you see...we were doing our project...yeah project and we...kind of..."

"Okay, it wasn't our fault," Chad said jumping to Troy's side. "There was this giant alien invasion in the kitchen and they wanted to take Troy so he could play for their basketball team...the Mars-lings. I mean, we had to put up a fight or they'd take Troy-"

"Chad hold your breath!"

"Yes ma'am."

They heard a popping noise and the five boys looked up and gulped. Some sort of gooey substance on the ceiling was about to fall.

"I'm very disappointed in you-" and it fell. A big orange glob right on the top of her head.

"Mrs. Bolton," Ryan said. "Orange is definitely your color."

"What is that," she asked disgust apparent on her face.

Troy looked around, none of his friends wanted to answer. "I don't know...orange juice and-"

"No, not that. That smell...its like burning-"

"The hamburger!" Zeke yelled.

Troy groaned and sat down on the floor, right in the middle of the mess. "Why me?"

"Troy, clean up the kitchen...now!"

"Okay Mom." Elaine walked out, shaking her head and muttering about kitchens and teenagers.

"I don't get it!" Troy said. "I try to do something nice and it backfires in my face. What have I done wrong to deserve this?"

Chad slid down the side of the cabinets to sit next to Troy. "You didn't do anything. Life just sucks sometimes, that's all. I thought you would have learned that by now."

"I should have."

"Here, you go get ready to go with your parents, me and the guys will clean up the mess. You will still get your date with Gabriella and it will be the best date she will ever have," Chad said."

"But that stupid banquet's tonight. I can't leave it."

"You'll have to leave if your cellphone rings," Chad said smiling. "It would be rude to stay."

hsmhsmhsmhsmhsm

Gabriella rang the door bell and tapped her foot. It wasn't that she was impatient, but because she was nervous. She had been dating Troy for what seemed like forever, but tonight was their first date.

The door opened and Chad stood in the doorway. He looked like a waiter of a restaurant. "Welcome to the Bolton residence. My name is Chad and I will be your waiter this evening. A table for two, follow me."

Gabriella followed him into the house. It was dark, lit with just candles. Chad led her to the living room. It was decorated beautifully. There were candles on the table along with one red rose on Gabriella's plate. The only thing wrong was that Troy wasn't there.

"Mr. Bolton will be arriving shortly." He leaned toward her and whispered in her ear, "He's up in his room looking at himself in the mirror." Chad loved how lying came so easily to him. He pulled her chair out and she sat down. "Dinner will be served shortly."

Chad

walked to the kitchen and picked up the phone and dial a very familiar number. "Troy, she's here."

hsmhsmhsmhsmhsm

Troy sat at a table half asleep. It was always boring when business people talked for long periods of time. His mom's boss was telling them a story and Troy could have cared less. He had placed his cellphone on the table for easy access. He drummed his fingers on the table

Right as the speaker got to the 'interesting' part of his story, "Roundball Rock" the NBA theme song (and his ring tone) played threw out the room. He grabbed the phone and walked out of the room. Once he shut the door of the hall, he said, "I'm on my way."

"You better be," came Chad's answer.

Troy shut the phone and looked down the hall. Jason was leaning up against the wall and he walked over to him. "Okay, when they start to look like I'm being missed, call me."

"Yeah," Jason said. He chuckled, "nice ring tone."

Troy shook his head as he ran out to his car and drove to his house. He got out of the car and walked to the back door, so he could walk up the stairs without being seen. He dusted himself off once he reached the top of the staircase, took a deep breath and walked down into the living room.

He was amazed at what Chad, Zeke, Jason and Ryan managed to do last minute with the living room. It looked very romantic. But once he saw Gabriella, the living room was pushed into the back of his mind. She was wearing a very pretty, light blue dress with matching shoes. He smiled and continued walking down the stairs.

"Troy, this is fantastic!" She said when he came into her view. "It must have taken you forever to set this up."

"It didn't take that long," he said as Chad walked in the doorway.

"Your dinner is served."

Troy motioned for Chad to lean down. "What is this?" Troy whispered.

"Take out," Chad whispered back. "Our food was destroyed."

Chad walked out of the room and into the kitchen. Zeke and Ryan had just sat down in chairs when he walked in. "It is a success so far boys," Chad said.

"We don't have to go get anymore food right?"

"Nope, but we need to make sure Troy doesn't make a fool of himself." The three made their way to the staircase where they could sit down and be seen by Troy, but not by Gabriella.

"You look very beautiful," he said.

"You don't look to shabby yourself. And this food is great!" She look him straight in the eye. "I didn't know you could cook."

"I didn't either."

She smiled. "Always modest."

"Yeah, sometimes a little too modest," Chad said from the stairs. When Gabriella took another bite of food, Troy sent a glare at the three boys on the stairs. Chad waved back at him.

"You have a lot of pictures around the house."

"Yeah, I guess I never really noticed before."

Gabriella smiled, "I think it's great that your parents do that. There's a little piece of you and Mack in every room. You were a cute toddler."

Troy couldn't reply, "Roundball Rock" started to play again. "Gabriella, my parents are at a banquet, can I take this?"

"Oh, go ahead."

"I'll send Chad in here so that you won't be bored." Troy stood up and walked to the stairs. He jerked his head and Chad jumped out.

"Hello Gabriella," he said as he sat in Troy's seat. "Roundball Rock" still playing he whispered, "make sure he doesn't do something stupid," to Zeke and Ryan. They nodded their heads and Troy was off.

hsmhsmhsmhsmhsm

"What took you so long," Jason said as Troy opened the door to the building.

"Traffic." He shook his head and walked back into the hall. People were having conversations at their tables now and not many noticed him come in.

"Who were you talking to son," Jack asked.

"Chad," he said hoping that there wasn't going to be additional questions.

"What did he need that took so long," Elaine asked. 'Today is not my day,' he thought to himself.

"He needed help with...his English homework."

"Then why wouldn't he call Taylor? She's smarter than you," Mack said, not believing Troy.

"Taylor was busy."

"Then why didn't he call Gabriella?"

"Gabriella was at Taylor's house. Mack stop asking questions about my life, this is Mom's night."

"Just asking why anyone would ask you for help, you're so thick you could be a beam for a house!"

"Mack," Elaine said. "Be nice."

Mack rolled her eyes and started to spin her fork on her plate. Troy didn't blame her for being cranky. He remembered when he was Mack's age, coming to these banquets were horrifyingly boring. This time with his date and the banquet, it was way too much too handle and needless to say it wasn't boring.

"So Troy, how's school going?" Elaine asked, trying to make a conversation.

"Actually, Troy why did you skip today?"

Troy looked at his father and bit his lip. Jack always seemed to tell when his son was lying. Whether he said anything or not, Troy could feel that he knew the truth.

"I was already late and I didn't want to walk in without a late pass, so I decided to go to the library. That way when I wanted to, I could get a pass from there."

"What were you doing that made you late?" Elaine asked concerned.

"I don't know. I was trying to find the guys and I couldn't."

Troy looked around the room, desperate for a subject change. Mack wasn't looking at him. He figured that she was mad at him for letting Chad throw the juice and crackers at her. The table was silent until the sound of Troy's cellphone erupted.

"I'll be right back," he said to his family. He walked out into the hall and answered the phone, unaware that someone had followed him.

"Tell her that I had to pick up something for my mom or I don't know...Zeke, just...What did Chad do now...I'll be right there."

Jason stepped out from behind the wall. "You better hurry, I think your parents are getting suspicious."

Troy groaned. "Just my luck. I'll take Gabriella home, tell her that Mack's sick or something and then I'll come back here."

"You are a genius my friend," Jason said.

"I would have to be if Chad had made a better plan."

"Good luck," Jason said.

"Yeah, I'm going to need it."

**So, how did you like it. I wonder who followed him...hmm...this could be interesting...**

**Tell me what you think, I love hearing your ideas, some of them really inspire me, others make me laugh. Keep Reviewing!**


	41. Chapter 41

**Here is Chapter 41, I hope you like, there's more Mack in this one.**

"Yeah, I'm going to need it."

Mack smiled from the door. So, Troy was skipping the banquet, that explained why he kept getting called. Troy ran out the door and Jason resumed his place leaning on the wall. As Troy ran, he slid his cellphone into his pocket. Mack cocked her head to the side, he didn't even answer it.

She looked over to Jason who was hiding his face in a magazine. "I smell something funny, and it's not all this fancy food," Mack whispered to herself. She shut the door and walked back to the table. Her parents were having a conversation with a woman her mom worked with.

"Where were you," Jack asked, sliding into Troy's empty chair.

Mack considered not telling her dad about Troy left for about thirty seconds. She thought of all the gains, the blackmail...but, Troy had been getting on her nerves lately, not paying any attention to her. Gabriella this, Gabriella that...ugh.

You could call her a little green eyed monster, but she was just exercising her right as Troy's little sister to make his life that much harder that it already might be. It wasn't her fault that she was used to her brother always being there for her, and now that all his attention was focused mainly on Gabriella...well she was just going to have to intervene.

"Troy's gone."

"What?"

"He left," she said. She looked at Jack and saw that he mad at Troy. She put on her innocent voice and pretended like she needed to strain to remember the information, to make it that much more believable. "He was talking to Zeke on the phone and I think I heard Gabriella's name in there somewhere. Oh and Jason's out there hiding behind a magazine and when we look as if Troy's being missed, he calls him and Troy comes back."

Jack looked hurt for a minute before being completely angry. "That boy's got nerve."

Mack felt a little bad because she didn't know the whole story, but she was sure that Troy deserved it. And then she got an idea, an awful idea, and she smiled.

"Daddy," she said. "Don't punish him to badly, he's just a teenager with the thought that Gabriella is his true love."

"Troy shouldn't have left this, he deserves to be punished."

"He'll get punished soon enough, I'm sure of it."

hsmhsmhsmhsmhsm

"I'm sorry Gabriella," Troy said rushing into the room.

"Is Mack okay," Gabriella said looking for the girl.

"Chad told you I presume," Troy said, hoping Chad's lie wasn't like the alien one he had told earlier.

"Yeah, the poor thing has hives on her face. What's she allergic to?"

Troy bit his lip, "um...we don't know, something in the food. She ran upstairs so that you couldn't see her, she's really embarrassed." One of the second floor doors slammed shut and Troy couldn't help but think that his friends thought of everything.

"I'm going to go," she said as she walked to the stairs. "I hope you feel better," she shouted.

"Yeah, bye Gabriella," came a high pitch, coughing voice.

Gabriella looked back at Troy. "I guess she's worse off than we thought," he lied, covering up for the coughing. "I'll walk you home?"

"I think you better stay with Mack," she said, looking back up the stairs concerned.

"Chad can watch her."

"Do you trust Chad with your sick little sister?" She walked to Troy and kissed his cheek. "Stay with her. It's not a far walk, I'll be fine."

Troy grabbed her hand, "are you sure?"

"She needs you more than I need you right now."

Troy watched her walk out the door and sighed. He felt three figures walk up behind him and he turned to face them. "You made her sound like she was dying!"

"We didn't know how allergic she was," Ryan said.

"She's not allergic to anything!"

"You're getting better at lying Troy," Chad said. "I'm proud to call you my best friend."

Troy sat down in a chair. "Now, I get to sit down and relax," he said shutting his eyes.

"Yeah," Chad said. "Let's get this place cleaned up." He looked at Troy and laughed. "He's out of it!"

Troy had fallen asleep on the chair. The others, being tired too, blew out the candles and turned on the lamps. Chad was the first to collapse on the couch, Zeke started to snore softly in the armchair and Ryan sat down in Troy's dinner chair and laid his head on the table.

None of the boys were awake when "Roundball Rock" started coming from Troy's pocket.

hsmhsmhsmhsmhsm

Elaine unlocked the door around 11:30pm. At nine they had lost hope that Troy was coming back. There were lights on in the house, so they figured he was home. Jack was behind her, holding a sleeping Mack in his arms.

"I'm going to put her to bed," Jack said. Elaine followed him when she saw him stop in the living room. She stood behind him and smiled at the sight of the four teenagers.

"Looks like something when on in here," she said. "I think I know why Troy left."

"Me too," Jack said. Elaine walked over to the stereo and turned off the romantic music that was playing. She shook her head as she picked the candles up from the table and grabbed the rose Gabriella left on the table.

"He's growing up Jack," she said. Mack started to move in his arms. "You better put her to bed." Jack turned and walked up the stairs carefully so Mack wouldn't wake up.

Elaine looked at her son and smile. "You're making me feel old Troy," she said as she brushed the hair out of his face. "I guess you listened to me, you haven't lost her and I can tell your not going to." She smiled. "Troy and Gabriella Bolton, has a ring to it."

"As much as I hate to admit it..."

Elaine looked up at her husband. "You're not loosing him Jack. You just have to share him."

"But, what if we don't want to share him?"

"That's not our choice," she said. She looked at Troy. "We both knew this day would come."

"I'd rather share him than loose him, I guess," he said taking a good look at Troy. "He's going to be a senior next year, can you believe that?"

"And Mack will be a freshman."

"What happened to the days when their only concern was learning to count to ten?"

Elaine just shook her head and the two of them walked into the kitchen. Once they were out of hearing range, a whispering voice said, "perfect Troy. 'You just have to share him.' I don't want to share him, as far as I'm concerned, Gabriella can keep him."

**Well...we do have ourselves trouble brewing in the Bolton household. Mack seems to be the only one upset by Troy...hmm...**

**Review!**


	42. Chapter 42

**Here's Chapter 42!**

**Thanks for Reviewing! Enjoy!**

"Hey Mack!"

Mack grabbed the rebound and looked over at the gate. She had been shooting the basketball and most of them were missing because she was putting so much force into her shot. She dropped the ball and walked over to Calum, Teagan and Adam.

"What are you guys doing here?" She asked, somewhat surprised that the three would be up at eleven on a Saturday morning. Troy, Chad, Ryan and Zeke were still sleeping in the living room.

"I wanted to see my girl," Calum said, leaning over the gate to kiss her cheek, making her smile.

"And," Teagan said. "We wanted to see if you wanted to play two on two with us."

"Not that you and Calum would actually be playing," Adam said. "If you catch my drift."

"Hey Adam," Calum said. "Why don't you catch my drift? Stop teasing, or I tell Bailey."

Adam's smile vanished and he turned oddly quiet. Mack caught on to this and asked, "tell Bailey what? I could call her right now if you want me to. She's awake."

"Believe me Mack," Calum said holding back laughter. "I don't think Adam wants you to tell her anything."

"Oh, come on! Secrets, secrets are no fun, unless you tell to everyone!"

"Then it's not a secret!" Adam said. "Can we go play now?"

"I'm going to find out, I have my sources," Mack told him.

"Yeah," Adam said looking directly at Calum, "that's exactly what I'm afraid of."

"Hi Mack!"

Adam bit his lip at the voice while Calum and Teagan chuckled. Mack gave Adam a funny look before waving to Bailey and Keisha who were walking toward them. "I am so popular today," she joked.

"I wouldn't suppose you girls would want to play three on three," Teagan asked.

"No, not really," Keisha said. "Anyway Mack, we have something important to tell you."

"Guys, you can play pig on my court until I get back. I'll be out in a second." Bailey grabbed her arm and lead her into her own house.

"Hi, Mrs. Bolton," Keisha said politely.

"Hello girls. Mack would you wake up your brother please."

Mack groaned, but Keisha answered, "sure."

"Why don't you want to wake him up?" Keisha asked as they walked toward the living room.

"I'll tell you later," Mack said. Once they got to the living room, Mack walked over to Troy and was about to scream in his ear, but Bailey pushed her back.

"No, this could be fun." She walked over to the sleeping teenager and started to whisper in his ear. "Hi Troy, my basketball boy. It's Gabriella."

Mack looked disgusted, but Keisha was giggling. Troy, in his deep slumber, didn't know the difference between Bailey and Gabriella. "Gabi?"

That got Mack laughing. Bailey looked back at the girls and Keisha motioned for her to continue. "I missed you last night. I was so cold, I wanted your arms wrapped around me. So I tried to read, but every word I saw turned into the word Troy."

"I think she is having way to much fun with this," Keisha whispered to Mack.

"Gabriella?"

"Yes Troy?" Troy leaned up in the chair, trying to kiss her. The girls' mouths dropped.

"Troy! Man, what are you doing?" Chad yelled.

Troy's eyes snapped open and his eyes widened when he saw Bailey instead of Gabriella. "Bye," Bailey said as she grabbed Keisha and Mack and ran up the stairs to Mack's room.

Mack shut the door behind her and leaned up against it. "He is _so_ fine," Keisha said.

"Keish, Chad's taken."

"A girl can dream can't she? Besides, Keisha Danforth sounds so much better than Taylor Danforth."

"Keisha, that would be like me dating Troy," Bailey said.

"And I'm sure you'd love that," Mack sneered.

"Eww, gross! I've only know him since we were what in third grade! I'm outraged," Bailey said.

"Anyway, what's so important that you had to tell me now?"

"Guess who asked me to semi..." Bailey's voice trailed off.

Mack rolled her eyes. "Who?"

"Nick Cross."

"You mean...as in Jason's cousin?"

"Mack! How many people by the name of Nick Cross do you know?"

Mack thought about it, just to make Bailey mad. "Hmm...I guess you're right. I only know one."

"So, Mack, what's up between you and Troy?" Keisha asked.

"It seems like you guys have been fighting nonstop. Ever since Calum woke up-"

"That's just it!" Mack exploded. "I don't know what went wrong. The last time he was nice to me was the day Calum woke up. Now, I'm like a germ or something."

"It can't be that bad," Keisha said.

"Wanna bet? He told Gabriella two days ago that I didn't matter!"

"And how do you know this?" Bailey asked.

"I spied."

"Mack you probably didn't even hear the whole story."

She bit back tears. "Maybe I didn't, but do you know how that made me feel. Gabriella asked 'what about Mack' and his response was 'oh she doesn't matter.' And the only thing that seems to be coming out of his mouth is 'Gabriella this' or 'Gabi that!'" She took a deep breath, "I wouldn't be surprised if he forgot about my birthday next weekend."

"Now girl, that's one thing that Troy can't forget," Keisha said.

Mack stood at her dome shaped windows. Troy, Chad and Zeke were playing three on three with Calum, Adam and Teagan. She watched with her arms crossed as Calum broke away from Troy and got an easy shot. She was surprised, Troy didn't normally let anyone get away from him and he hated giving an opponent an easy shot. Troy was actually just standing in the middle of the court. She was about to run down to him and make sure nothing was wrong, when she saw Gabriella.

Her eyes narrowed as Troy ran over to her, his shirt off and kissed her briefly on the lips. What was so special about her? Sure she was pretty, a genius, a good singer and abnormally sweet, but there had to be one flaw.

One flaw that would turn Troy away not wanting to run back to her.

She smiled. "Girls, do you want to help me?"

"Help you what?" Bailey asked warily.

"Last time we helped you, Troy's girlfriend Claire was involved."

Mack turned around, "but they were totally wrong for each other. We were just breaking them up faster." She looked back at Troy and Gabriella. "No, I need to find some background on her. Where did she say she was from?" Bailey and Keisha shrugged. "Whatever, can't be too hard to find a genius on the Internet."

"Mack, it's not like she's an ex-con or something," Bailey said.

"I doubt there is anything wrong with her," Keisha said. "She seems so perfect."

That gave Mack an idea. "Maybe Gabriella's perfect, but I _know _Troy's not. And maybe if we can't get Troy to run from Gabriella, we can get Gabriella to run from Troy." Mack smiled and nodded, "and I know exactly how we could do that."

"No one's going to get hurt right Mack," Bailey asked.

"I don't know."

"Mack, we need to think this over-"

"Not know Keisha! We have to plan this." Mack walked over to the window. "And we're going to have to plan it good."

**Sorry if Mack sounded a little evil, but...she's just getting really into her planning. **

**Hope you liked.**

**Review!**


	43. Chapter 43

**Now, I know some of you are questioning Mack's character, and to put some background to that...Troy has never really dated anyone for this long. Mack has just been so used to having her big brother there for her at every minute of everyday that she doesn't know how to have a brother that she doesn't see much. Don't worry, it will work out in the end.**

**Now onto Chapter 43!  
**

Bailey and Keisha walked out of the house. Mack was still in her room and she didn't notice that she was alone. They walked to the basketball court.

Ryan and Gabriella were keeping score and by the looks of it, Calum's team was winning and three of the Wildcats weren't letting them win. Bailey didn't want to walk into the middle of their game, but Keisha didn't mind.

"Calum," she yelled from half court.

He jogged over to her, after signaling to Ryan and Gabriella timeout. "What is it? Where's Mack?"

"Exactly why we need you," Bailey said stepping in. "We've created a monster."

"What do you mean," he asked confused.

"Actually, Troy created a monster. But you really need to talk to Mack. She is...just go talk to her, you'll see what we mean then."

Calum turned and sprinted for the house. The five other boys walked over.

"Where's he going," Chad asked.

"He needs to talk to Mack."

"Should I go with him," Troy asked concern filling his voice.

Bailey shook her head and looked to Keisha to speak, but Keisha was staring at a shirtless Chad. With a groan Bailey told him, "no, that would just make it worse."

hsmhsmhsmhsmhsm

Calum climbed the stairs to Mack's room two at a time. When he reached her door he knocked, but there was no answer. He went to open the door, but something was holding the door. "Mack I know you're in there! Open up!"

He heard shuffling and she opened the door. Calum walked in to the room he pictured Mack having. Red and white, with basketballs everywhere. Those sticky star things were on the ceiling and there were stuffed animals -not many- in one corner of the room. As he walked on her hard wood floors, he heard a crunching noise and looked down. He had stepped on a pile of ripped pictures.

He picked up two halves that was ripped down the middle and put them together. It was at what looked like Troy's fifth birthday party. She was sitting on his lap as he blew out the candles of a basketball shaped birthday cake. Chad was in the picture too, as well as some other kids he didn't know but he presumed were family.

"We look so happy don't we?"

"Mack, what's wrong?"

She turned around and he looked into her eyes. They were full of hurt. "What's wrong? Troy and his perfect girlfriend."

"I thought you were okay with them."

She shut her eyes. "I was. But...recent events have changed my mind."

"Look," he said putting his arms around her. "I know your hurt and maybe jealous-"

"Jealous, I'm not jealous," she said pulling away from him.

"Okay, just listen. Pulling apart your room isn't going to help."

"That's why I have devised a plan."

Calum looked at her, "what kind of plan?"

Mack watched out the window at Troy, who was showing Adam and Teagan the correct way to shoot a foul shot. "A plan that would make Gabriella run away from Troy."

"Do you think that's going to help? Breaking Troy's heart," Calum said.

"Breaking Troy's heart?"

"Yeah Mack, he's in love with her. Have you not seen that? I may not be an expert, but I know it when I see it." His voice lowered slightly. "You will ruin your family if you do what ever you're trying to do."

He walked over to her side and put his hand on her cheek. "It's not like she's unworthy of him. Look how happy they make each other. Mack, I've never seen you act like this. Not even when you hated me were you this evil."

She shut her eyes, "I guess you're right."

"Why were you going to it?"

She looked him in the eye. "He's forgotten all about me and I want my old brother back."

"No matter what you did, you wouldn't get the old Troy back. People change," Calum said looking out the window. "And he hasn't forgotten about you."

"Yes he has, Gabriella's taken my place," She yelled.

"No one can ever take your place." Both heads turned to the voice. Troy was leaning against the door frame. "Come here."

Mack stood her ground and crossed her arms. Troy sighed, "I guess I deserved that huh. But listen to me. If I did something for Gabriella, I would do it twice as fast for you. If you needed say...a kidney and Gabriella needed one too, who do you think I would choose?"

"Gabriella."

"No, you. Sure it would be a tough choice, because you're the two girls I love most in the world."

"What if I wasn't a match with you and Gabriella was?" Calum chuckled at Mack's questioning.

"I'd give it to Gabriella, but I would look night and day for a match for you." When Mack didn't budge, he said, "if you don't believe it, follow me."

Mack sighed and followed her brother out the door. He picked her up and put her on his shoulders and brought her to their mother's garden. There was a bench, where the two used to sit when Elaine was gardening and he sat her down on it. "You'll like this, I promise." Then he started to sing.

"As you go through life you'll see  
There is so much that we  
Don't understand."

Mack smiled slightly at his song choice. 

"And the only thing we know  
Is things don't always go  
The way we planned.  
But you'll see every day  
That we'll never turn away  
When it seems all your dreams come undone  
We will stand by your side  
Filled with hope and filled with pride  
We are more than we are  
We are one."

Mack knew that this next part was the girl's part and wondered what he was going to do. When he didn't sing and pointed to her, she shook her head. "I'm not continuing until you sing. I'll stay out here all night if I have to."

She sighed.

"If there's so much I must be  
Can I still just be me  
The way I am?  
Can I trust in my own heart  
Or am I just one part  
Of some big plan?"

Happy that she contributed he continued.

"Even those who are gone  
Are with us as we go on  
Your journey has only begun

"Tears of pain, tears of joy  
One thing nothing can destroy  
Is our pride, deep inside  
We are one

"We are one, you and I  
We are like the earth and sky  
One family under the sun

"All the wisdom to lead  
All the courage that you need

You will find when you see  
We are one."

Troy sat down next to her on bench. "Now, what do you say to that?"

"You have got to be the only guy at East High that still watches Disney movies."

Troy laughed. "Okay, caught red handed. Did that show you?"

"That you're a freak? Yes." Troy gave her a look. "That you're the only guy that thinks he's cool enough to watch Disney movies with his little sister, memorize the words to the song and sing it to her when she's down and still remain popular? Yes."

"Why do you think I picked that song?"

Mack sighed. "Because it talks about being a family and things not going as I planned them to go?"

Troy smiled. "And to think I thought you missed the point." Troy stood up and started to walk back to the house. He turned around and smiled. "Oh, and don't make any plans tomorrow."

"Why?"

"It's a surprise."

**Sorry if you guys are getting really sick of them Lion King, but I thought that Troy singing that to her would be good...**

**Tell me what you think.**

**Review!**


	44. Chapter 44

**Here is chapter 44! **

Beep! Beep! Beep!

Mack hit her alarm clock and jumped out of bed. It was six thirty -in the morning- on a Sunday, but she was ready to get up. She jumped out of bed and ran to her drawers. She didn't know where they were going, her and Troy, so she picked out a pair of capris Gabriella had given her and a black tank top. Not that anyone would see the tank top, because she was wearing her Wildcats sweatshirt that had Troy's name written on the sleeve with his number.

She walked to her mirror and fixed her hair so they were in pigtails- Sharpay had shown her how. Then she picked out a pair of sneakers, knowing Troy they would walk anywhere they could. Then she rushed down the stairs.

"You're up early Princess," Jack said when Mack ran to the table.

Mack smiled, "Troy said he was taking me someplace special, a surprise."

Jack shook his head as he poured himself coffee. "Then why are you up this early? You know Troy won't get up at this hour on a Sunday."

Mack looked up at the clock. It was only seven thirty and Troy didn't normally get up until noon on weekends. She looked down at the plate that was at her seat. It had to have been Troy's midnight snack plate, or else her mother would have been awake and picked it up. It still had the crust of a piece of left over pizza on it. She picked it up and aimed it at the trash can, but before she threw it took a bite.

"Your mother would kill you if she saw you eat that," Jack said.

She smiled and took another bite, just to spite him. He walked over to the trash can and lifted the lid, she threw it and it bounced off the top, landing on the floor. "Remind your brother before you leave to take this out. It's starting to smell."

"Dad, just put it back in the cubbard."

"No, because the Troy would forget to take it out again and again, and then I would have to do it for him."

"Oh Dad, I'm not that bad," came a voice from the door. Troy was fully dressed and his hair was still a little wet from the shower. He yawned, not used to getting up at six on a weekend, before he collapsed in the chair next to Mack.

"You know son, it helps if you go to bed earlier if you must wake up earlier."

"I have a routine. It would screw up my whole week if I messed up my routine."

"Did that _routine _include reading a chapter of that book Darbus assigned?"

Troy looked up at his father, "what book?"

"The book that she always assigns her students to read this time of year?" When Troy's face was still blank, he said, "the book project that is worth fifty percent of your grade?"

"Oh, that book. No."

"Troy!" Mack winced, it was way too early for her dad to be yelling. "How do you expect to pass without doing it?"

"I'm going to-"

"You can't fail her class again."

This caught Mack's attention. "You failed."

Ignoring Mack, Troy argued, "D-."

"Troy you were a point away from an F."

"I know."

"How come Mom didn't know about this?" Mack interjected.

"Because if Mom found out, my basketball career would be over."

Mack looked down at Troy's plate again. 'Great, Troy is already in a fantastic mood,' she thought. "So, where are we going?" Mack asked, trying to change the subject.

Troy smiled, "you're going to love it."

That made Mack smile. If Troy said she would like it, she usually did. The old Troy used to tell her that a lot and since it was coming from the _new_ Troy, she was beginning to wonder whether she would like really it, or if Troy thought she would like it because Gabriella liked it.

"Come on," he said as he jumped off the chair, suddenly wide awake. She looked at her dad, he was smiling and shaking his head at Troy's excitement, their argument obviously forgotten.

"Are you coming or not," Troy's voice rang threw the hall. "Because I could always find some strange girl that looked like you to go with." Troy cocked his head.

"What," Mack asked.

"I need to go someplace first."

"Okay..."

Troy grabbed her hand and walked her to the family's jeep. "I need a car of my own."

Mack smiled. "Where are we going?"

"First I need to go check something, then we get to go on an adventure."

The rest of the car ride was silent. Mack was shocked when they parked in the hospital's parking lot. "Why are we here," she asked, worried that Troy was sick and her family didn't tell her.

"I need to see if someone's still here."

Troy walked up the stairs to the pediatric ward, Mack right on this heels. He walked to the receptionist and she smiled at him. "I told you not to come back too soon Troy!"

Troy rolled his eyes, "I'm fine, don't worry. Is Mikaela still here?"

"Let me check," she typed the name into her computer. "Hmm...Troy if she's still here she'll be in her room, you remember right?"

"226, right?"

"Yes."

Troy grabbed Mack's hand and led her to a pink door with an elephant on it. "I want you to meet someone," he said before knocking on the door. A girl answered the door, and Mack felt her eyes widen. The girl looked exactly like her, except this girl had extremely short hair.

"So, I hear you're getting out. Congrats," Troy said. The girl, who was also wide eyed, let the two into her room. It was mostly packed up. There was a woman helping her pack, who Mack presumed was her mother.

"Mom, this Troy," the girl said, still looking at Mack. The woman looked around, she had hazel eyes, blond hair and a warm smile.

"Hi," she said shaking Troy's hand. "I've heard a lot about you."

"I'm Mikaela," the girl told Mack.

"I feel like I'm in the Parent Trap," Mack replied.

"Oh, you'd feel more like it if I had more hair."

"I'm Mack."

"Wow, weird. We look alike and our names are alike."

They were silent for a few minutes, before Mack asked, "where are you from?"

"Right here in Albuquerque," Mikaela replied. Then Mikaela's eyes widened. "Troy why are you here? Are you sick again?"

"No, I wanted Mack to meet you and I wanted to see how you were doing." Troy let the girls stare at each other for a few minutes before he said, "anyway Mack, we should go, we have a long day ahead of us."

"Bye," Mack said. Mikaela smiled and said the same. Troy led Mack out of the hospital room and smiled at her shocked expression.

"Wow," Mack said. "Wow, I mean...how?"

"I don't know," Troy answered honestly. "Creepy huh?"

"But cool."

**How did you like it? Tell me what you think! Just to let you know, it's not like Mikaela and Mack meeting had no point to the story, because it did. I wanted to clear that up.**

**Review.**


	45. Chapter 45

**Hey! Sorry about the wait-explanation at bottom-but I thought I'd show you this e-mail I received:**

"_**Hi!**_

**_As you may or may not know, I am running the first ever HSM Fanfiction _**

**_Awards._**

**_I am pleased to inform you that you have been nominated in at least one _**

**_category._**

**_Your Nominations:_**

"**_Stay Away From MY Sister" for Best Drama, Angst or Tragedy_**

**_Congratulations!_**

**_Please feel free to promote your stories and encourage your fans to _**

_**vote. Instructions are at the HSM Fanfiction Awards Forum."**_

**Well, you can check it out if you want. Here is the long awaited (by you and me) CHAPTER 45!**

"Why am I blindfolded?"

"Because my dear sister, I am taking you to a far away place."

"Ah, kidnapper! Somebody help," Mack muttered. "Please Troy, tell me where we're going," she whined.

"Stop walking like that, people are already giving me weird looks."

"I wonder why," she said under her breath.

"Hey! Do I look like the kind of guy that would kidnap his little helpless, defenseless sister?"

"Yes."

Troy rolled his eyes. "Hold on, I'm going to carry you up the stairs!"

"Why are we going up stairs? Are we like at the mall?"

"No," Troy said as he picked her up.

Mack relaxed in his arms, knowing that he wouldn't bump her into any walls now. She was unsure of any place she had ever been to that Troy would take her to that had stairs. She stopped thinking when his movement stopped and he set her down on the ground, carefully untying the blindfold.

"Look around," he said as he whipped the piece of cloth out of her face. She blinked and gasped. The view was gorgeous and there was flowers all around her. She looked puzzled, "how did we get up here? This is East High right?"

"I pulled some strings." Mack gave him a weird look. "This is my secret spot, thanks to the Science Club. Though, it's not too secret anymore," he added the last part more to himself than to Mack.

"It's beautiful up here."

"Yeah, that's what I thought when I found it," Troy said excitedly. "Then the Science Club asked if they could put some plants in. I couldn't say no."

"You must really love it," Mack said sitting on the bench.

"It's amazing isn't it," he said sitting next to her. "It reminds me of when Mom used to take us to the garden after school and teach us everything she knew-"

"Before she had travel all the time," Mack finished for him. "Back when Dad wasn't stressed and the basketball court was brand new."

"I knew you'd understand!"

There was a long pause. "The more I think about coming to East High, the more scared I get."

Troy looked at her. "Mack, why would you get scared? You'll have me and the guys, not to mention Taylor, Sharpay and Gabriella. Dad will always be in his office. You'll have it so easy. Everyone will now your name!"

"I thought you were supposed to be invisible as a freshman," she scoffed.

"You get to skip a whole step."

"But what if I wanted to be invisible?" Troy opened his mouth, but Mack cut him off. "Troy, you wouldn't understand! I've always been known as Troy's sister, the Coach's daughter. I just wanted to be a girl, a regular girl for once, instead of a name."

"I know what you mean." Mack opened her mouth, but it was Troy's turn to cut her off. "I was the basketball dude, the teacher's son remember? I still am and some people think I get special privileges because of it. They think I got on the team because Dad's the coach."

"Then they should see you play."

"Exactly, don't think about anyone else but who you want to be. Just because someone calls you Troy's sister, or the Coach's daughter, doesn't mean they know anything other than you're name. It's your friends that matter in the end."

Mack smiled. "I always thought you liked the attention?"

"I got used to it. But, we can't talk about that anymore because we have a strict schedule to follow." He picked her up and threw her over his shoulder.

hsmhsmhsmhsmhsm

"Where are we going now?"

"Mack, has anyone ever told you that you ask way too many questions?"

"Yes, but my teachers say that my ability is a gift."

Troy laughed and looked out the window, parking the car on the side of the road. Mack looked around, she didn't recognize the area. "Do you remember this?"

Mack shook her head, keeping a look out for something that caught her eye. "I remember that," she said pointing to a tire swing in the front yard of a house.

Troy smiled nervously. "Do you have any idea where we are?"

"It's our old house."

Troy's smile widened and he nodded. "I didn't think you'd remember, you were really little when we moved."

Mack looked at him. "It's so small!"

"Mack, this was when Dad was just starting out as a teacher and he didn't have the coaching job. Mom wasn't making as much as she does now either. And all the bills I racked up didn't help much."

"Troy, they didn't have a choice, you were early and needed medical attention. You just wanted to meet Mom and Dad really bad," she said trying to cheer him up.

Troy smiled slightly and started the car.

"Where are we going now?"

"You'll see."

Mack rolled her eyes and reached for the radio. "Centerfield" by John Fogerty was playing. She looked out the window, lost in the music. She had never really liked baseball, it was boring and slow to her. It wasn't like basketball, where any second something unexpected might happen. With baseball, you were expecting the batter to hit the ball.

But, she was forced to like it a little, because Keisha played it. Actually, Keisha played softball, but she liked baseball too. The more she thought about sports in her middle school, athletes played everything. Like Keisha played softball, soccer and she swam. Bailey played tennis, field hockey and ran track.

Mack and Calum seemed to be the only kids that just played basketball, but the results were very noticeable. Mack was destined to be exactly like her brother, on starting varsity by sophomore year and captain as a junior. As for Calum, since he was going to East High, Troy was already taking about Calum rising in the ranks early on as he did. Her father liked Calum too, giving him that much more advantage over the others- not that he needed it.

She felt the car stop and looked around. Mack saw that they were in the park. "Why are we here?"

"Just get out and you'll see," Troy said.

She opened the door and hopped out. It seemed normal to her. The playground had kids on it, there were a few teenagers she could hardly see throwing balls and Frisbees.

"Don't you see it?"

She looked harder, but all she saw were the kids on the playground, and the guys throwing the toys. She looked in the trees, but there was nothing unusual about the birds in the branches. She heard someone pluck at guitar strings behind her. She turned to tell Troy that she didn't see anything, but when she faced him she couldn't form words.

Troy, Chad, Jason, Ryan, Zeke and Cam were leaning against the jeep. Troy had his guitar, Jason was holding some Frisbees and Zeke was holding a basketball. Troy started to play the guitar and Jason stepped up.

"If its always once upon a time in New York City,

Why does night fall leave you feeling so alone.

How could any one stay starry-eyed,

When its raining cats and dogs outside.

And the rain has said, "Now you're on your own."

Mack smiled at the song, "Once Upon a Time in New York City" from the movie Oliver and Company. Jason had lived in New York before his parent's split up and he and his mom moved to Albuquerque. She heard the music of Troy's guitar change and Cam start singing.

"Because I was afraid to speak

When I was just a lad,

Me father gave me nose a tweak

And told me I was bad.

Then one day I learned a word

To save me aching nose.

The biggest word you've ever heard

And this is how it goes.

OOOO!

Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious!

Even though the sound of it

is something quite atrocious

If you say it loud enough you'll

always sound precocious

Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious!"

Cam wasn't all that bad, even though you could tell by his face he was disgusted by singing. The beginning of Cam's choice made her sad. How it talked about the father telling him he was bad, was like real life, with Cam and Mr. Boucher and eventually Calum. Troy's tune changed again.

"The second star to the right

shines in the night for you

to tell you that the dreams you plan

really can come true.

The second star to the right

shines with a light so rare.

And if it's Never Land you need,

its light will lead you there."

She smiled, Zeke's favorite movie had always been Peter Pan. Whenever Troy had a sleepover, Zeke would beg and plead that they watch Peter Pan and then leave the window open so Peter could fly in. Troy flipped the guitar over and started to use it as a drum.

Look for the Bear Necessities,

The simple Bear Necessities,

Forget about your worries and your strife!

I mean the Bear Necessities,

It's why a bear can rest-at-ease

With just the Bear Necessities of life!

Mack laughed at Chad's choice, because it fit him perfectly. He never seemed to worry about anything. Troy flipped the guitar over again and started to play.

The sun'll come out tomorrow

So you gotta hang on til tomorrow

Come what may

Tomorrow, Tomorrow,

I love ya Tomorrow

You're always a day away

Tomorrow, Tomorrow,

I love ya tomorrow

You're always a day... a... way...!

'Of course,' Mack thought. 'Ryan would pick a song sung on Broadway.' Then a familiar tune hit her ears. She shut her eyes as Troy started to sing.

"A dream is a wish your heart makes

When you're fast asleep

In dreams you lose your heartaches

Whatever you wish for, you keep

"Have faith in your dreams and someday

Your rainbow will come smiling through

No matter how your heart is grieving

If you keep on believing

the dream that you wish will come true"

The others had sung bits of their songs, but Troy sang the whole song. It was what their mother had sung to then when they were little.

"No matter how your heart is grieving

If you keep on believing

the dream that you wish will come true."

**So, Cam has become friends with the guys...is that good or bad? Hmm...how'd you like them singing to her. They all picked Disney songs that I thought sorta went with their attitudes or life. Sorry about the wait, I have a major project that I waited until last minute to do, to do and I was watching High School Musical Friday where I learned that I can't multi task!**


	46. Chapter 46

**Here is Chapter 46. Sorry for the long wait, again project. Ugh. Well anyway, this takes place a week after Troy and Mack had their little day.**

Mack hummed "Oh, I Just Can't Wait to Be King" as she walked down the hall to her math class. Math was her least favorite subject and she had it with her least favorite teacher, Mr. Hedrik. The worst part was that none of her friends, except Calum, were in the class. She didn't have a clue what he was talking about most of the time either.

She took her seat in the front row and stopped humming. She and Calum were the only ones in the class that had assigned seats; Mack in the right corner, Calum in the left. He had done this back when they hated each other. Back when Mack would shoot spitballs at Calum, then the next day Calum would play a prank on her, followed by a prank by Mack.

He had gotten tired of spitballs at the front of the room, but the last straw had been when Calum, Teagan and Adam came in during lunch- he was unaware of this- and set up water over Mack's seat, so when she sat down she'd get drenched. Well, Katie Bernardi sat in the chair that day- she had a huge crush on Calum- and she got wet instead.

"Today we're starting Chapter 10."

Mack rolled her eyes. She sighed, she didn't get Chapter 9, forget about Chapter 10. She looked across the room at Calum, who was glaring at Mr. Hedrik. Calum grasped the concept of mathematics easily, but he and Mr. Hedrik didn't quite like each other.

After a few minutes, Mr. Hedrik passed out a worksheet. Mack looked at the first problem.

_Solve: 5x2 – 10x 0 Show all work_

She raised an eyebrow at the problem before looking around. All the kids were working hard, some of them already halfway down the page. She looked back at the paper.

_Solve: 5x2 – 10x 0 Show all work_

That was just it, she didn't know how to solve it. The words that Mr. Hedrik was saying could have been in Greek or French. The only thing she knew was that she didn't understand it.

She looked out the window. Tomorrow was Saturday, the day of her party, then they only had a week of school left. She moved her eyes to the front of the room to look at the clock. 1:59pm. Half an hour and she was free.

Out of the corner of her eye she saw Calum push his paper to the corner of his desk. He leaned back in his chair and started to look out the window. Mack couldn't help think it made him look like a guardian angel from the movies.

She had never really believed in guardian angels. Not until this year, with Troy and Calum both landing in the hospital.

"Are you done Miss Bolton?"

Mack looked at Mr. Hedrik. He was sitting at his desk, grading papers. She nodded, pretending that she was done, even though they both knew she wasn't. He motioned for her to come to his desk and she walked slowly there. 2:02 the clock said.

"I will not have you sitting through my class because you have to. I want you to try."

"I do try," she said. 'Just not very hard,' she added mentally.

"I want to see it on the next test then. I will not have you wasting away like your brother did."

"My brother did not waste away," she said, almost growling.

He looked her in the eye. He couldn't have been much older than 30, maybe 35 at the oldest. "He sat in the chair you sit in, drawing pictures of basketballs or passing notes to Danforth or Cross. Baylor was lucky to have a different teacher, because he actually wanted to learn math, instead of just playing a silly game."

"Basketball is not a silly game," she said, getting angrier with every word.

"He could have gone far, and so could you if you put your mind to it. Sports are excellent examples of geometry." When she didn't say anything, he said, "you can either try in my class, or go to the principal."

Her eyes narrowed and she turned on her heel. The class, who had been listening to their conversation, looked down at their papers. She made a sound of disgust before stomping out the classroom, not caring that she was making a scene. She was free and it was only 2:05pm.

hsmhsmhsmhsmhsm

"So Troy, what time is Mack's party?"

Troy erased his answer and turned to look at Zeke, Jason, Chad and Ryan. "One, I think?" He turned back around and tried to answer his final question before they were dismissed for the day and he only had two minutes left. "Jason what did you get for twenty-three?"

"Heat."

He looked at it, "how can it be?"

"Troy, trust him," Chad said. "He's the science freak."

"Heat, are you sure?"

"Troy, it's heat."

"If I get it wrong I'm blaming you."

Jason was about to open his mouth when the afternoon announcements started. "Would the following people please come to the office for messages: Jessica Sandborn, Mike Nolan. There is no boy's baseball practice today. Girls softball practice is in the gym. Seniors tennis meeting in the cafe. Have a great afternoon East High and Seniors have fun at the prom tonight."

"Freedom," Chad shouted running out of the science room as fast as possible. "Weekend here I come."

"Yeah, this weekend is going to be great," Zeke said.

"No nothing, except Mack's party which is always fun," Jason agreed as they ran out of the school. They sat on the stairs for a few minutes, talking about the parties that the Boltons had held in the past, not noticing that Troy wasn't with them.

"There's not going to be any pin the tail on Chad this year is there," Chad asked, rubbing his upper back. "Bailey didn't have very good aim last year."

"I think she did that purposely Chad."

"Why?"

"Because you pushed her into the bobbing for apples bucket at the Halloween party and girls hold grudges," Troy said, running up.

"What, are you getting slow on us?" Chad asked.

"I think he met someone in the hall," Ryan said wiggling his eyebrows.

"What? No...who would I meet?"

"Did you're dad catch you," Chad asked.

"Huh," Troy said.

"Your hair is a mess, which means that you met Gabriella in the hallway and, knowing you, you wouldn't have left unless Daddy Dearest caught ya in the hall."

"Chad you..." but he was interrupted by Chad.

"I'm right Troy, I know, you don't have to tell me."

"The world's going to end," Jason shouted.

"Chad was right for a change," Zeke said in mock amazement.

Chad sent the two a glare, but they just kept laughing. Even Troy managed a chuckle. "Fine, make fun of me, but don't come crying to me when I'm rich and you all are living on the streets!"

"Well, somebody got up on the wrong side of the bed this morning," Ryan said shaking his head.

hsmhsmhsmhsmhsm

Cam strode down the halls of West High in a terrible mood. Only to make it worse, people were staring at him, giving him dirty looks and glares. Some of the seniors had tripped him, but he had managed to keep his cool. He saw the group of juniors from the basketball team and walked over to where they were sitting. "Hey guys, what's up?"

"The sky," one of them sneered.

"Great, you guys too. You hate me now?"

They all glared at him. "And you call yourself captain,"another one sneered.

"You were hanging around with sissy Bolton, the Three Stooges, and Drama King."

"So what if I was with them. Ryan isn't that bad anymore, once he got friends of his own and got away from Sharpay. Troy isn't that sissy, I learned that the hard way. Oh, and Zeke, Jason and Chad aren't dumb enough to be called the Three Stooges." His expression got colder. "Oh, and I'm not captain anymore. Apparently, the team doesn't think I'm a good role model."

"You aren't."

"Fine, okay I get. Being with people from East High is a sin..."

"Hey Boucher!"

Cam turned around and his face dropped. It was the football team. The football team that he had made fun of earlier in the year. The football team where every player was at least three times his size.

"How are you doing?"

"Great, but we'll be even better once we do this." Captain grabbed Cam by the shirt and punched him right in the face. The rest of the team joined in, and every one watching was cheering on the football team. 'This must be my lucky day,' Cam thought.

Once they were done, everyone left Cam bloody and bruised. The teachers walked right past him and girls he had once dated, used, cheated on, or made fun of to make him more popular laughed and giggled meanly. Cam just sat on the ground, knowing that it wasn't as bad as when he and Troy fought, but he still hurt.

He stood up once everyone was long gone and walked very slowly home, wincing in pain with every step.

**Hope you like it! Review!**


	47. Chapter 47

**Here is chapter 47! I thought I sent this, but...something happened on the website. Sorry if you've been waiting!**

Mack slammed the front door as hard as she could, before stomping into the living room and sitting on the couch between Troy and Chad. She stole the remote from Chad and changed the channel.

"Um...hello? We were watching that," Chad said.

"Oh well."

Troy looked at her. Her eyes were narrow and her mouth formed a straight line. "What's wrong Mack." She sighed and ignored him. "Mack! What are you doing home, it's 2:20, you don't get out for another ten minutes."

She blinked once and looked at Troy. She was about to say something when Jack walked in the room. "Is she sick or something," Troy asked.

"No, but I'd like to hear what happened, in more detail this time Mack."

"He went way too far, he insulted Troy and then me. He called basketball a 'silly game' and told me to leave or try harder, so I left."

Jack sighed. "Why don't you try harder next time?"

"I can't! He gives a minute instruction and then hands us a paper and doesn't help us."

"I know math's not your strong point, but it would be better to try then not listen."

"Oh, I do listen and he speaks fluent Latin."

"Mack!"

"I'm serious Daddy, he speaks a different language that only math freaks like Calum could figure out. Me, I'm not smart enough to understand him. Can you give me a note saying I am physically unable to attend math class for the rest of the year?"

Troy, Chad and Jason shared a look, but Zeke and Ryan looked completely confused. Troy, Chad and Jason knew what Mack was talking about, they had had Mr. Hedrik three year prior.

"Mack, you only had a week left," Troy said, trying to help his dad who was having trouble with Mack. "Just think, one week and he's gone forever!"

"I want him to be gone forever, now. But, on a better note. Daddy I raised my grade in Spanish. Math is the only class that's going to keep me off honor roll."

"How about I talk to your math teacher."

"Fine, but he's not going to like you."

Jack shook his head and walked out the door. Troy looked at Mack who was focused on the television as if she had never had a conversation.

"So Mack, excited about tomorrow?" Mack grunted in reply, her focus never leaving the television.

"I'm excited," Chad said. "Are you excited Ryan?"

"Oh yeah! This is my first 'Bolton Party!' Zeke are you excited?"

"Okay, I get it," Mack screamed. "And there's not going to be a party!" Mack stood up and ran out of the room and up the stairs.

"I'll talk to her," Troy said.

"I'm coming with you," Chad said standing with Troy. The two walked to Mack's room and opened the door. She was sitting on her bed holding her knees to her chest. "What's wrong, Lil' M," Chad asked.

"There's not going to be a party."

"Why," Troy asked. "Everyone's excited."

"Especially Ryan," Chad added.

"I over heard Macy and Ebony talking on the way to the office. Ebony's party is the same time as mine and they were getting invitations ready in the bathroom. They're planning on inviting all my friends."

"They won't go."

"Maybe Keisha will come to mine, but that's because Chad will be here."

"What do you mean, is she planning on sticking a tail in my behind? Again? Have her go to Ebony's party if she's going to do that!"

"Just think Mack, Calum and Keisha will definitely be at yours," Troy said.

"Yeah. And Bailey too, she hates Ebony for telling everyone she liked Adam, when she's going to the dance with Nick." Mack smiled. "Those are my real friends and if the others go to Ebony's party who cares, right?"

"Right," Chad said. "Your party is going to be talked about all through the summer. But, I'd appreciate it if you used Troy as your donkey this year, _this_ donkey is still sore from last year."

Mack laughed. "Sorry about that."

"Plus, they're just inviting people now. Who's going to go on such short notice?"

"I can think of twelve right off."

"Well, they're stupid," Chad said. "Anyone who doesn't go to your party is stupid or going to West High."

"Thanks guys."

"No prob, Lil' M, anything for you. But, right now, I smell cookies that are calling my name," Chad said walking out of the room.

"But Mom's on business," Mack said.

"I love having Zeke around," Troy said running out of the room toward the smell.

hsmhsmhsmhsmhsm

Mack walked out of the house and stood frozen. There were at least 25 kids in her backyard. She walked over to Bailey, who was talking to a boy she didn't know. "Who are all these people?"

"Um...I don't know. They all just sorta...showed up."

"Great," Mack said sarcastically. "I thought I was going to have a small party."

"You don't know what a small party is, and for that I blame Troy and Chad."

Mack's eyes lit up. "I know, all these people are Troy and Chad's friends."

"Mack," Bailey said. "I know they're popular, but why would Troy and Chad's friends want to go to Troy's little sister's birthday party?"

"They love me. Let's go find...someone we know."

The two walked in and out of people trying to find anyone they knew. They came across Calum, Adam and Teagan who were doing the same thing. "Who are all these people! They don't go to our school," Adam said looking around.

But the two girls weren't listening. They were staring at the three boys, who cleaned up very well. None of them were wearing anything with logos. Calum was wearing a long sleeved button down blue and white stripped shirt ('I swear Troy had that shirt, that was the one he ruined with blood after the East West Fight,' Mack thought.) with the sleeves rolled up and khaki shorts. Adam was sporting a bright blue polo shirt that made his eyes stand out with jean shorts. Teagan had on a green shirt under a white (unbuttoned) button down shirt with Khaki shorts that made him look even more tan than he was normally.

"Hello? Are you listening?"

Mack snapped out of it and elbowed Bailey who still had her mouth open. "Have you seen my brother?"

"Yeah," Adam said. "He and Chad were trying to get some kids to leave last time I saw them."

"Here, I'll help you look," Calum said. "The birthday girl shouldn't go alone to see her big brother."

"But Cal, she wont get there if you escort her," Adam said waggling his eyebrows.

"Adam remember our promise? You seem to have forgotten I have blackmail." Adam glared at him and turned back to talk to Teagan and Bailey.

"Blackmail?"

"Yeah Mack, it's nothing you need to worry about, especially not today!" Calum scooped her up in his arms, wedding style. "You seem lighter then usual."

"Then you're getting stronger because I just gained five pounds after my pig-out session with Keish and Bailey. You're lucky, most girls would think you saying that means that their fat or were fat."

"But you're not."

Mack rolled her eyes at Calum's confused expression. "You are just like Chad and my brother, absolutely clueless about everything."

"I don't get girls."

"You don't have to, all you have to do is love 'em."

"Hey, stay away from _my_ sister, Boucher!" Calum set Mack on the ground, afraid of Troy's voice.

"Not on our watch are you two leaving this party."

Mack rolled her eyes again, but this time at Calum's scared expression. "You know that they're just joking right. Chad and Troy watching over this party? Puh-lease! The only thing their watching is the Angels game on television, and maybe steal a quick glance at their girlfriends during commercials."

"How do you know? All we heard were their voices."

"And their voices are coming from inside. They have probably yelled that at everyone who has passed by that door, hoping one time it will actually be you. It's like the automatic big brother."

"Oh."

"Don't worry, Troy did it to Dad once. Told him to get lost and that he'd call him later if he had time, thinking it was Chad."

"Bet your dad didn't like that," Calum said. "Speaking of your dad, I saw on the way out of school yesterday. What was he doing?"

"He had a meeting with Mr. Hedrik."

"How'd it go?"

Mack smiled. "Let's just say that I don't have to go to math anymore."

"What did he do?"

"Like son, like daughter, like father. All I know was Dad was mad when he got home." Calum and Mack laughed, visualizing the meeting between Mr. Hedrik and Coach Bolton. "I pictured chairs flying," Mack said as her laughter ceased.

"I agree," Calum said. "So, looks like Keisha got some kids to leave."

"How can you tell?"

"Mack, you being her friend should know this. Her mouth is huge and her voice...you tell it's her."

"So maybe she is a little loud." Calum sent her a look. "Okay! Maybe she's really loud. But she's a good person."

"I never said she was a bad person, I just said she's loud."

"Mack!"

"Keisha," Mack said without turning around. "We were just talking about you."

"I have good news. One, Chad said "hi" to me," she said really excited. "And it's time for you to blow out your candles," she shrugged. "But, most of the people that you don't know are gone."

"Thanks, Keisha, I'll be over there in a minute."

Keisha turned and skipped back to her spot at the table. She had put name tags on the seats so she was across from Chad with Zeke and Jason on either side of her. The girlfriends of these boys were conveniently placed at the opposite end of the table.

Mack sighed. "I don't want to turn fourteen. I want to stay young forever."

"Oh, it's not so bad."

Mack smiled. "Yeah. I hope you got me a better present than I got you."

"How could I not? You hit me in the face with water balloon and soaked me so I had to walk through school all wet."

"I was such a good prankster when we hated each other."

He smiled and lifted her up again, carrying her to the table. He set her down in front of her cake- which Zeke had made, shaped like a basketball- as they sang "Happy Birthday." Her dad walked over and wrapped his arms around her shoulders, "make a wish, Princess."

She shut her eyes, made a wish a blew out the candles. "What did you wish for," Troy asked.

"I can't tell you silly or it wont come true."

"She's right Troy," came a new voice.

Mack turned around. "Mom!" She ran to her mother and hugged her. "I thought you were gone?"

"And miss my baby's birthday? No way!"

"This is the best birthday ever," Mack said.

"Not yet," Chad said. She turned around to face him, but he and Troy took a different cake they had baked and threw it in her face.

"Eww!" She squealed. "This tastes gross!"

"Well, that was going to be your cake. Aren't you happy we made Zeke make your cake instead?"

Mack couldn't answer because she was spitting pieces of cake out of her mouth. "I'd say that is a yes boys," Elaine said laughing.

"But Troy I thought you could cook?"

The two boys' eyes widened and their mouths dropped. They turned around to face the table and Gabriella. "I can...just not cake."

"Well Gabriella," Chad said, putting an arm around Troy's shoulders. "He could cook, he had a talent. But aliens invaded the kitchen and took Troy's powers and talent with a special gun," he said knowing that this was just comic relief for the group and so that- hopefully- Gabriella wouldn't flip.

"Nice try, boys," Elaine whispered as she walked by. Troy bit his lip and sat next to Gabriella. "You do forgive me right. I can't cook...anything. I don't even know what we served you."

"But I do! You had take-out!"

"Thanks Chad," Troy said. "Next time you get into a situation, I'm telling Taylor aliens abducted you!"

Mack smiled, this truly was the best birthday she had ever had.

**Wow! That is the longest chapter I've ever written, 2,082 words! The next chapter is going to begin with the night of the dance, so...hope you enjoy.**

**Review!**


	48. Chapter 48

**This is Chapter 48 and sadly, it's the last chapter, but...because so many of you liked this on, I am doing a sequel! Here is chapter 48!**

"There! You are _gorgeous_! Calum is just going to eat you up," Bailey said, spinning the chair Mack was in so she could see.

"If he can stop drooling," Keisha added.

Mack looked in her mirror and gasped. Keisha had French braided her hair and Bailey had done her face, putting just the right amount of make-up on. Sparkles were lightly sprinkled in her hair and on her face. "Wow..."

"As I said, Calum won't stop drooling."

Mack turned around to look at her friends. Bailey had on a pretty green dress, and Keisha had chosen a pink one. She looked at her own, a light blue dress with sparkles.

"Mack! The three musketeers are here," Troy yelled up the stairs.

"Let's go make sure that your brother doesn't say anything to Calum," Bailey said, ushering the other girls out of Mack's bedroom. The three positioned themselves on the stairs so they couldn't be seen.

Calum was sitting in a chair, looking very uncomfortable as Troy and Chad circled around him like hawks. Adam and Teagan were standing at a distance. Even Coach Bolton couldn't hide his grin.

"So...where are you going tonight," Troy asked.

"The dance."

"And what are you going to do there?" Troy stopped suddenly and Chad walked into him. "What?"

"What do you think they are going to do at a dance, Chad?"

"Dance and drink-"

"Which reminds me, no alcohol Boucher."

Calum nodded his head. Troy sent Calum a look, that both Calum and Jack caught.

"Troy, don't scare the poor kid off! Let them go and have fun."

Troy's mouth dropped and Chad looked over in disbelief. "You mean," Chad said. "You're going to let your one and only daughter go off with this...thing?"

"Chad, this_ thing_ is a very nice young man," Elaine said.

"Sure. He is now, but you wait," Troy said. "They seem nice, and then turn out like Chad."

"Hey!"

Mack had finally had enough and stood up walking over to him said, "Troy, enough!"

Troy and Chad looked over and smiled. Calum's eyes widened and his mouth dropped slightly. Adam rushed over to him and elbowed him. Calum seemed to be jerked out of his trance and stood up, walking to Mack. "You look amazing," he whispered.

"You don't look too bad yourself."

"May I," Calum said holding his hand out. "Your brother's driving us. Hope you don't mind."

"Oh he is, is he."

Calum shrugged. "It was either him or we were walking. I didn't think Bailey would want to walk in heels."

"You knew Bailey was wearing heels?"

"Yeah, she told us to get a car or else. We didn't want to mess with her."

Mack rolled her eyes. "Well, we mind as well get there soon and leave here before my parents decided to take pictures, go!"

The six kids ran to the van and got settled before Troy and Chad started to go. "So, who are you boys going with," Mack asked Adam and Teagan.

"I'm going with Hillary Goodman, I don't know who Adam's going with."

"Me, myself and I."

"You didn't ask anyone," Keisha asked.

"Nope."

"Oh. I don't have a date either, Chad will you take me?"

"Keisha," Bailey said before Chad could say anything. "You're going with Chris remember."

"Whatever," Keisha said somewhat dejectedly.

"But, you didn't even want to ask anyone," Bailey asked Adam.

"Yeah he did," Calum said. "He was going to ask-"

"That girl from that new series,boy is she a goddess or what," Adam said with a fake smile.

"What new series," Mack asked.

"The new one," Adam said. "You know, with the girl...and the guy..."

Teagan elbowed Adam. "You've said enough."

Adam blushed slightly and Troy started to chuckle from the drivers seat. He looked at Chad, who was holding back a laugh. "And, here we are," Troy said. "Have fun."

"You're not coming," Mack asked sarcastically.

"Mom, told me not to," Troy said.

"Plus, why would we want to be clung on to by eighth grade girls all night," Chad asked, glaring at Keisha through the rear view mirror.

"So, back at 9," Troy asked.

"9:30," Mack said.

"Alright, see you then."

The six piled out of the automobile and walked into the gym, which had been decorated by the staff. Music was already playing. "So, want to dance," Calum asked.

"Sure."

hsmhsmhsmhsmhsm

After dancing nonstop for two hours, Mack was exhausted. Her and Calum hadn't been able to get out of a circle of kids, who were dancing and they were the center of attention for most of the night. With fifteen minutes left of the dance, Calum led her toward a group of chairs. He sat down and pulled Mack into his lap. "That was fun."

"Yeah," Mack said. "But I'd be dead if there was no such thing as slow dances." She laid her head on Calum's chest.

"Go to sleep, you look tired."

"But-"

"Mack, I'll wake you later. Just shut your eyes and try to relax."

"A Whole New World" (the Disneymania 3 version with Jessica Simpson and Nick Lachey) started to play as she shut her eyes. Calum put his head on hers and scanned the gym. He couldn't see much because of the lack of lighting.

After about ten minutes, the last song started to play. He looked around, trying to find his friends. He found Teagan with Hillary, Bailey with Nick, Keisha (looking reluctant) with Chris. He couldn't find Adam.

"You look comfortable." Calum turned his head and looked at Adam. "I have been chased around by Fawn this entire time. Luckily she doesn't know we're going to East High. She's still going to West because she thinks I'm going."

Calum chuckled. "We got stuck in the middle. Mack's exhausted."

"She looks it. You know what Calum, I'm kind of happy we're not going to West High."

"Really?"

"Yeah. I mean, after what happened to your brother, being you or being associated with you, probably wouldn't be a good thing."

Calum sighed. "Probably. I still can't believe they did that, just because he's friends with Troy and the gang."

"Who wants to be a Knight, anyway? I'd so rather be Wildcat."

"Wildcats all the way!"

The two smiled. "I'm going to miss it. Being 'the big fish in the small pond.'"

"Yeah," Calum agreed. "Who wants to be a 'small fish in the bigger pond?' It shouldn't be that bad though."

"So this is it guys," Teagan said walking up to the boys. "Tomorrow's the beginning of summer vacation."

"I can't believe this is the last day of school," Keisha said from behind him.

"It's like just yesterday that we were in sixth grade and scared to death," Bailey said, walking over as the last song ended.

"Sorry guys," Adam said. "But this is reminding me of the ends of really corny movies."

The group laughed. "Come on," Calum said. "Lets get Mack home."

"You're just scare of Troy," Teagan exclaimed.

"Scared he'll blow up at you because you keep Mack in here too long," Adam asked.

"Shut up!"

"Shh! You'll wake her up," Bailey said.

Calum changed his hold on her so he could get up and walked over to the door. He turned back, "are you guys coming?"

The girls and Teagan walked over, but Adam stayed in the middle of the gym. He looked up at the decorations. "Well, this is it," he whispered to himself. He blew a breath of air out of his mouth. "I hope you're ready Adam, high school will be different." He bit down on his tongue lightly and tapped his foot. "East High, ready or not...here we come," he whispered before running out of the gym to his friends.

**Tell me how you liked it.**

**For the sequel...there will be a brief preview/summary in a final chapter/AN of this story, so there will be a chapter 49, but it will be entitled sequel. You can give me suggestions for the sequel if you like, but if you don't it doesn't matter.**

**Tell me what you think!  
**

**Review!**


	49. Sequel AN!

I haven't come up with a definite summary of the sequel yet, but I know this:

-The first chapter will be the first day of school and so on...

-Adam will have a case of the green-eyed monster

-Mack will make JV as will Calum

-Calum will want to quit basketball

-Since it's senior year for Troy and his gang, they're choosing colleges and they are not all going to the same one.

And a few surprises that will come in.

Tell me what you think and look out for the sequel (which I still haven't named...working on it.)


End file.
